The End of An Eternity
by AqualineEverStar
Summary: Lydia is sixteen years old now but her best friend is still the ghost with the most but will it always be that way? Or will Lydia outgrow her childhood ghost pal as she grows up? A new threat to the Neitherworld will help the pair find the answers to those questions and more. Set mostly in the cartoon universe but will link to the movie universe as well. Chapter 7 has arrived!
1. Chapter 1 - A Little Bit Old

**Author's note** :

First of all, right off the bat ^^O^^ (? literal bat...heh). Thank you to anyone reading this. I hope that you'll stick with this story and if you feel inclined to review, great! I encourage that you please review if you feel inclined and be honest (but kind) as it is tremendously motivating and helps me to know what I'm getting right and maybe what I got wrong.

To give everyone a small heads up, this story will EVENTUALLY deal with some Beetlejuice and Lydia romance later on but call me crazy, I'd like to actually take some time and develop that aspect before jumping right into it. I'm mostly going to be doing a lot of hinting at/flirting with it in the beginning and it won't really be a sure-fire thing until much later on. I plan to keep it subtle. I want to write an actual story, not just romance fluff, involving the characters that mean so much to me.

Expect some slight language here and there and some minor innuendo/pervy situations but nothing heavy or graphic. Anyway, enough yammering on. In the words of our favorite ghost with the most...

"It's showtime!"

 **The End of An Eternity**

Chapter One – A Little Bit Old

"Keep spinnin' Babes!" Beetlejuice cried enthusiastically as he helped twirl the young female in front of him around in circles, careful to keep his arms on her shoulders to keep her steady. With his help, his long term pal Lydia Deetz was on the verge of becoming an otherworldly blur from his helpful spinning.

"Beetlejuice! I think I'm going to be sick! ENOUGH!" she screamed and with that, the poltergeist stopped her dead in her tracks, hands clamped securely on her shoulders as he snickered in ghoulish delight. He took note of Lydia's woozy movements as she wobbled from leg to leg, her head slightly rolling.

After a minute, he removed his hands from her shoulders and grinned a cheshire cat's grin. "Okaaaaaaay...GO!" he declared and floated back, giving her some space and allowing her to move of her own volition now.

It was a very special day to the pair. It was the fourth anniversary of when they had become best friends. Every year they played games or got into some kind of wacky misadventures that usually threatened their very existences but everything would seemingly always turn out all right in the end. It was great. To him, there was nothing better in the whole wide Neitherworld. What was even _more_ great was having a best friend who enjoyed their mishap adventures and trouble making just as much as he did. He expected today to be no different.

"B-beej...I'm afraid to move. I think if I take one step, I'll hurl," Lydia said, dramatically putting a hand to her mouth as her cheeks puffed. She was currently wearing a dark, purple, velvet blindfold and was delicately holding in her other hand, between two fingers, a toy googly eye with a pin point on it's back.

"No problem if ya do! This place could use a feminine touch!" Beetlejuice cackled hysterically at his own joke. The thought made Lydia want to vomit all the more. "You REALLY aren't helping..." she groaned in protest then took a deep breath in to steady herself.

The pair was currently engaged in a riveting game of Pin the Eye on the Slime Pile. Not only did the person who was blindfolded have to attempt to pin the toy eye on a ball of slime but to make it even more difficult, the pile of slime would move at it's own whimsy. Lydia had eagerly volunteered to go after round one had ended with Beetlejuice being blindfolded and with him then wandering out of the road house and some how perfectly pinning the googly eye on the monster across the street's left, hairy rump cheek.

That had gone down as about as well as one would expect. In fact, had it not been for Lydia's sweet talk and profusely apologizing, explaining that it was their anniversary and everything was intended as good fun, the festivities would have ended early. Lydia surmised that Beetlejuice would have been well on his way to the Neitherworld hospital.

Lydia focused on the moment and strained her ears to listen for the gurgling sounds the slime made as it oozed about. Beetlejuice had moved the furniture to a great pile in the corner of the room to prepare for the game play and also so Lydia wouldn't fall and break her face, which she appreciated tremendously.

Lydia went deathly still as she heard...it. "Grrrgggg..." The slime was close judging by the sound. "Remember, NO CHEATING. You are to stay in one place! You agreed," Lydia warned. Beetlejuice was hovering nearby, sitting cross-legged in mid air and watching her, all grins. He waved his hand to and fro, dismissing her. "Yeah, yeah Babes now quit stalling and PIN!"

Lydia exhaled slowly and then began to move towards the sound. "Grrrggggghhh!" she heard, closer this time. Lydia shuffled forward cautiously and then felt her foot slightly slip and her knees slightly buckled as she almost lost her footing. She heard Beetlejuice snickering at her and she straightened up as best as she could, being mindful of the slime trail under foot.

"Quiet!" she hissed and Beetlejuice snorted then pointed at his lips. "I won't make a sound!" he vowed and there was a soft pop as his voice disappeared and he began laughing without audio.

Lydia stiffened her legs and readied herself. She could actually smell the little bugger and judging by the slime trail her foot had hit, she was almost certain that she was right over the little slime ball. Lydia readied her stance, legs bent slightly and then a moment later, she sprung, googly eyed pin held out in front of her as she dived at the green, gloopy pile.

She hit the ground with a soft, "Oof!"

Slime now had coated the front of her red, spider-threaded poncho and the pin hit hard ground in her fingers. "Eeew..." she grimaced as she sat up and wiped her free hand down her front. "GRRRGGGH!" the slime yelped, as much as slime could yelp. It was still close, she could tell that much. What she had not seen, due to the blindfold, was that the little slime pile had jumped well out of her way and was now clinging, desperately, to Beetlejuice's face. Beetlejuice screamed silent screams of protest as he clawed at the little blob on his face. "Grrghhh! Grrrrgggglllll!" the slime kept wailing as if vocalizing it's own protest.

Lydia pushed herself up and grinned darkly. "I hear you," she warned in a sweet, sing-songy voice, turning towards Beetlejuice who was still trying in vain to rip the sticky sludge off his face, his voice still mute. Lydia readied the pin and tried her best to focus in on the sounds.

"I..." she breathed, readying to pounce again, completely unaware of the situation at hand. "GOTCHA!" she cried and sprang at the exact moment that Beetlejuice managed to pull the slime from his face just in time to see Lydia spring at him, google eye pin forward, and follow it up with a scream of bloody murder.

There was a loud crash as the pair connected with each other and rolled and finally collided with the wall. Beetlejuice landed half propped against the wall, with his legs up against the wall and the rest of his body sprawled out on the floor, arms outstretched at his sides. Lydia was face down, strewn across his chest, her head spinning now yet again. Beetlejuice groaned and sat up dazedly. Being dead, he took falls, punches, kicks, slams, hits and tumbles much better than Lydia ever did and therefore could recover quite quickly. He raised his head, looking up at the ceiling and a gave a long groan. The toy googly eye was stuck square between his eyebrows. His eyes glanced up at it and he touched it with one finger, poking at it.

" _Whoa_. Talk about an eye sore," he grimaced before plucking it out of his skull with his fingernail then flicking it aside. He then turned his full attention to Lydia, who was still ontop of him, groaning in disorientation. He gently touched her shoulder, attempting to help her adjust her position and to help her sit up but as he moved her, something made his body jerk and stiffen like a corpse.

He felt her breast brush against his side and a flurry of thoughts suddenly bombarded his mind, some that were anything but G-rated.

" _When in the hell did she get THOSE_?!" his mind screamed in a panic.

In his head, red alarms were blaring and there were small versions of himself running every which way in panic, some slamming into the sides of his skull. He shook his head quickly in an effort to clear off any inappropriate thoughts, a first for him, then narrowed his eyes. Deep inside, he knew it was wrong, really, _really_ wrong, to think anything even remotely of _that_ nature about his best friend. He had met Lydia when she was about twelve, going on thirteen and though he had initially thought of her as just some wayward kid that he could easily manipulate to gain access to the living world. The truth was, that she had grown on him rather quickly and he had become, dare he admit, extremely _fond_ of her.

It became so that from that point on, she had always just been his best friend in his mind, nothing more. He had certainly never thought of her in _THAT_ sense. He also had never really thought of her in terms of age, admittedly. Hell, the concept of "age" had escaped him long, long ago and though some ghosts celebrated their Deathday (the opposite of a Birthday), he had never much bothered or even saw a point to it. As for Lydia, he had always considered her to be beyond her years in many ways. So many times she was so even keeled in her nature and so damn smart and clever that he had easily forgotten that she was, in fact, still just a kid.

He also wasn't stupid or naïve either, he knew how living humans worked. He had always known, in the very back of his knowledge, that Lydia, being that she was alive, would eventually age and grow up but it was not something that he had ever really lent too much thought to. So long as she continued to visit and spend time with him and indulge him in adventures and his pranks and scams, he was a happy ghoul. So what if she grew up? She'd still be Lydia, she'd always be the Lydia he knew and enjoyed. What more was there to think about?

" _How about that she's grown a pretty nice pair of_ -" a voice in his head began to say in wicked glee before another small, mental version of himself smashed that thought with a mental sledgehammer.

It then occurred to him how protective he was of her, even in his own head from his own lecherous thoughts. Something that he could truthfully say that he had never found it necessary to do around any other attractive female.

" _She's_ _ **still**_ _a kid for cryin' out loud! What are you doin' thinking those thoughts about a damn kid_!" one mini mental Beetlejuice in his head argued loudly.

" _But she won't be forever, 'specially if she already has...THOSE. They were_ _ **so**_ _soft and already a nice size-_ " another small mental him quipped as it rubbed it's hands together in glee.

" _ **WOULD YOU BOTH CUT IT OUT**_?!" a third mental him screamed at the other two.

Lydia shifted and her movement brought his attention back to the situation at present. She lifted her head slowly, one hand to her head as though she was in mild pain. It was then that the smell of Beetlejuice's body odor hit her full on and she yelped, sitting up straight like a nail. Beetlejuice grinned slyly, pleased that his odor was still so strong that it elicited that reaction from her. "Wakey, wakey Lyds! Pits and stinky!" he sang and then cackled at his own joke. Lydia pinched her nose and rolled her eyes as she slowly stood up, taking a step back. Beetlejuice sat up and took a long look at her, taking her appearance in.

She was now sixteen years old, going on seventeen, and sure enough, now that he was looking and paying closer attention, he could see the changes that had taken place in her. How in the hell had he not noticed it before? She was definitely taller, though still short in height overall and still pixie-ish in her overall frame and stature. Her hair was slightly longer, now reaching to just slightly above her waist. As for her figure, the red poncho that she always wore made it difficult to get a real good look at her body, not that he was trying to, but he noticed now that indeed, she was sporting a pair of modestly-sized, definitely noticeable, breasts.

" _ **LYDS GOT BOOBS**_?!" a few mental mini hims screamed inside his head in unison and he immediately slapped a hand to his head in aggravation.

" _SO WHAT?! GET OVER IT WOULD YA?! She's still_ _ **Lyds**_ _. That doesn't change anything_!" another mini him in his head screamed at the others and Beetlejuice felt himself fume internally. He briefly considered taking his head off and attempting to just shake the hell out of his head. That would show those pesky thoughts.

Why was he so bothered by this at all anyway? Why was he suddenly having all this internal dialogue just because his best friend had gotten what any normal chick had anyway? Was this really _that_ big of a deal?

"Are you okay Beej?" Lydia asked, bringing him back to reality. Beetlejuice grinned nonchalantly and waved it off. "I'm fine Babes. It's going to take a lot more than some small tumble to bring down the ghost with the most," he said and floated up, standing and crossing his arms, still putting on a good show grin.

"Uh huh," Lydia said, eyeing him. "Well, what should we do now Beej? I think I've had enough Pin the Eye for one day," she confessed, still wiping slime off the front of her poncho. Beetlejuice considered the possibilities.

"Well, we could play some more games or go terrorize the neighbors orrrrrrr..." he trailed off, grinning slyly in her direction. "We _could_ just skip all that and get to the best part," he said and produced a gift box from behind his back. The box was wrapped in purple paper with an orange bow. He had the store wrap it because he'd have likely had more luck making a sand worm roll over and play dead than he would wrapping any present by himself.

Lydia's face lit up and she happily took the gift in her hands. "Oh Beej, thank you!" she said, gazing at the gift fondly. "Well, don't thank me yet Lyds! Open it!" he said, his eyes fixed upon her and his thoughts having quieted, at least for now.

Lydia removed the top of the gift box and peered inside. Her expression fell just ever so slightly but she quickly smiled to recover.

"A...wig," she said, pulling the long, electric blue wig from the box and staring at it, feeling slightly perplexed but trying not to let it show.

"Yeah babes! You _have_ mentioned before wanting to have a new hairstyle, haven't ya? Well, now you can without Delia gettin' on yer case! " Beetlejuice said, his enthusiasm growing.

Lydia smiled warmly. She had, in fact, mentioned that before and she was touched that he had remembered her saying so.

"Now, when you visit me, you can wear that new hairstyle any time you want!"

"That's really thoughtful of you Be-" she began but her cut off her off.

"AND think of all the scams you can help me get away with while being in disguise! I already have one in mind," he said, dollar signs orbiting around his head as if it were a planet. He snickered gleefully, "The saps won't see us comin' babes! It's BRILLIANT!" he went on, growing increasingly zealous over his own idea.

It was only that once a moment of ugly silence followed that statement did Beetlejuice realize that Lydia was _not_ sharing his enthusiam. She had both arms crossed, still holding the wig in one hand and was tapping her foot slowly. Beetlejuice felt a wave of dread wash over him. This particular pose of hers never meant anything good. She always managed to be one of the only people, maybe actually the _only_ person... period, who could inspire both fear, dread, shame and immediate regret with that one look alone. "W-why are you givin' me that look Babes?" Beetlejuice asked nervously, twiddling his fingers and trying to offer her an innocent smile.

Lydia was trying her best to retain her calm but the last few years had seen a pattern emerging and growing with each year that she did not much care for. It had begun on their second anniversary with the Droolex watch. How it had been her gift but suspiciously Beetlejuice was the one who seemed to have gotten the most immediate enjoyment from it. Even when it had sprouted wings and taken off with him at the wrist, he had considered giving up catching it and just letting it go until she had reminded him that it was in fact _her_ gift after all. She had dismissed it easily enough seeing as how the day over all with him had been one of the most amazing and crazy that they'd ever had but the following anniversaries had seen similar situations rear their ugly head.

Last year he had gotten her a prized pet jumbo beetle and when Lydia told him that there was no way that her parents would allow her to keep such a pet however greatful she was for it, he had spoken about being sure that he could give it a good "home."

"Home" in his words meaning "lunch", of course.

"Beetlejuice," she said sternly, fighting to keep her voice calm but the irritation was creeping in despite her best efforts. "Did you get this gift with me in mind or were you really thinking more of yourself?" she said bluntly and took note of the look of false shock that Beetlejuice promptly wrapped his face in.

"Baaaabes! How could you think that of _me_?" he said, putting a hand to his chest in false indignation but a smirk danced across his lips. She knew him so well. Lydia's expression remained unchanged and her eyes remained glued to him.

"So, you honestly _weren't_ imagining all the great scams that I would be helping YOU pull while wearing THIS, when you picked this gift out? Be TRUTHFUL," she pressed on.

Beetlejuice gagged. There were some words that he just didn't do and those same words always made his skin crawl. The big "T" word was one that always made him want to seal his ears closed forever. Worse yet was when Lydia asked it of him because try as he may, there was almost no way that he could deny her the truth without feeling tremendously guilty for it. She asked for so very little from him in their time together that on the few occasions that she actually did, he felt that much more inclined to give her what she wanted since she had given him so much to begin with just by accepting him for who he was day in and day out and being his friend.

"I..." he winced and jerked slightly, as if the truth was an animal that was viciously, painfully clawing it's way out of him.

"The truth Beetlejuice!" she waited, still giving him the stink eye.

"FINE! YEEEEEES! But only a little, I sweeeear!" he admited, wailing, slumping down onto his knees. He looked up at her, his eyes pleading, "Babes! That wasn't my _ONLY_ thought when I bought it! You gotta believe me!"

Lydia picked up the giftbox and set the wig back inside and replaced the box top...calmly. She then tossed the gift box at him and he caught it in both hands, surprised only for a moment at the force in which she had thrown it. She then walked up to him and he winced in expectation of what was to come. He expected fire and brimstone, scolding and her moral wrath but instead, she placed a tiny giftbox ontop of the bigger giftbox that he was now stuck with holding.

"This... was for you," she said and the biting cold in her voice made him flinch.

His eyes settled on the small giftbox and his shoulders slumped. Lydia was at the opposite side of the room now, arms crossed, her back to him, silent.

He quietly set the giftbox containing her wig down and hesitantly picked up the smaller giftbox from his friend. With two fingers, he lifted the lid off of the small box and was immediately greeted with a note. He removed it, unfolded it and read it out loud.

"To my favorite ghost with the most. I know you and I know it but now everyone else will too! Happy Anniversary B.J. ! Your best friend, Lydia" he read aloud and he felt as though he were in a deep grave and the dirt was piling in on him. Except that it wasn't dirt, it was hard, heavy guilt. Something he hated almost as much as he hated being honest.

He glanced inside the small box again and inside was a single ring. It was a darker color of metal not silver but similar. He picked it up and held it in front of his face curiously. On the front, it had a small skull portruding, nothing too big and too flashy but it was damn cool looking. In the skull's eyes were two very tiny green stones.

"Read it," Lydia said softly. "The inside band, read what is says."

Beetlejuice furrowed his brow and tilted the ring towards the light in the room. Inscribed on the inside of the band were small words that he also read out loud.

"The ghost...with...the most. Friends always," he read the words slowly and dejectedly, feeling like complete and utter pond scum. The gift was beyond thoughtful and it was packed with specialness. His whole body slumped and he clutched the ring in his hand against his chest.

"I still wear the ring you gave me. I wear it as a promise ring, a promise to always be your best friend," she spoke softly, her back still to him so that her expression was completely unreadable. Beetlejuice winced at those words, remembering the circumstance under which he had given her that ring.

"Lyds..." Beetlejuice began but in all seriousness, he wasn't even sure _where_ to begin.

"It's special to me because it reminds me that I always have you no matter how bad things get, no matter how upset I get, no matter what goes wrong in my life. I can always look at this ring on my hand and remember that I have someone who will always be there for me. Someone who thinks the best of me and cares about me," and it was at this point in her speech that her voice broke and Beetlejuice was stunned and confused and bewildered. "At least that's what I had thought. I just thought, _hoped_ I guess, that maybe I meant to you what you meant to me," she spoke sadly and turned around to confirm his suspicions.

She was _crying_.

"Babes!" Beetlejuice began and tried to run to her. He _hated_ seeing her turn on the water works. It killed him every...single...time inside and every time, he wanted nothing more than to cheer her up somehow. It was so rare that he ever saw Lydia cry and seeing it now, well, he would have rathered that someone were exorcising him because the pain from that would have surely been less than the guilt and pain from knowing that he had managed to make his best friend cry. The only person that he truly, deeply cared about in this world and the living, was crying because of him on what was supposed to be a special day, a happy day. To his shock and dismay, Lydia stepped back from him as he approached her.

"Don't," she said, wiping at her leaking eyes. "This day was special to me and I thought it was to you too. I thought that it meant more to you too than just another day to plan another prank or another scam but I guess I was wrong," Lydia said, her words full of hurt and turmoil.

"It _IS_ special to me babes!" Beetlejuice cried in desperation, fidgeting as he struggled to quickly think of the right words to fix the mess that he had created. He had _never_ been any good at professing his deepest, honest feelings.

Never.

He suspected that he had not liked doing it when he was alive and he sure as hell did not enjoy it any more now that he was dead. But like or dislike aside, he was just damn awful at it and though he wanted to tell Lydia how much she meant to him, the words just failed to come together and form coherent sentences. Panic began to bubble up within him.

"Babes pleeeeeease don't hate me! I don't know what I would do if you hated me! I messed up big time babes, I know! But I-" he wailed in further desperation.

"Really big time," she agreed sullenly, cutting him off, still crying a little bit, silent tears slipping down her pale cheeks as she wiped at them in a futile effort to dry her face.

"I _don't_ hate you Beetlejuice but it's just that... this? This whole, turning _everything_ , most of all the special days,into a scam or the next greatest prank and just expecting me to join in with excitement without even asking me? It's..." she paused and hesitated briefly and hung her head as finished her words.

"It's just getting a little old Beej," she confessed and in that moment, Beetlejuice felt as though lightning had struck him through to his core and if he had not already been dead, he'd have died twice over. What exactly was she trying to say here?! He couldn't help but feel somewhat deeply wounded, confused and overwhelmed, all unwelcome emotions to him. A long silence ensued between the two, for the first time in their presence of each other and neither knew what to say to each other at that moment. After a minute had passed in complete silence, Lydia was the one to break the silence first.

"Beetlejuice."

The guilty ghost glanced up at the call of his name, looking to her wearily, feeling as though he'd had all the juice sucked clean from him.

"Beetlejuice," she said a second time and Beetlejuice's eyes widened a little as he realized what she was doing and he went to stop her but then paused as she uttered the final word that would send her back home.

"Beetlejuice."

And then she was gone and the ghost with the most was left feeling like the ghost with the least.

 **Author's note:**

As mentioned in the summary, I'm mostly basing this story in the cartoon universe but I am going to have it connect to the movie universe as well so it will be a mix of the two somewhat. Overall though, the film won't be playing too big of a role in this story.

Also, I had read somewhere that Lydia and B.J wear promise rings to signify their friendship but I don't recall that ever being specifically stated in the cartoon. I also don't recall seeing him ever wear one in the cartoon. I know Lydia has a ring that she wears and I'm not denying it to be true but just that I don't remember her specifically calling it a promise ring. I'm sure it's just my crappy memory but someone, anyone feel free to remind me what episode that was that it was touched upon if it's canon cause actually I'm genuinely curious to watch it. In any case, I'm going to pretend that he didn't own a ring and she gave him one as a token of their bond/friendship. I'll touch more on Lydia's ring in the next chapter.

In short? Some things may not be _EXACTLY_ as portrayed in the show (and creative liberties may be taken for the sake of story telling). I apologize in advance.


	2. Chapter 2 - Alone With A Memory

**Author's note:**

So, I've decided to _loosely_ connect the film and cartoon universe. I'm also going to be taking some creative liberties here and there in this story. For example: I keep thinking that it wouldn't be right if ghosts could cry or bleed or sweat. These are all the perks (or curses I suppose depending on how you look at it) of a living body. There had to be a good reason that B.J. wanted out and back into the living world so badly. Remember when Lydia says, "I want to get in" that he gives her a confused look and says, "Why...?" like she's completely nuts. So, for the sake of my story, I'm going to make it that ghosts do  not have blood, tears, sweat, among a few other things (which I'll touch on later in the story) I know it contradicts the cartoon a wee bit (since B.J. has been shown sweating and crying and blushing) but I promise to explain this a bit more in depth later on. I have a specific reason in mind for doing this.

Also, fair warning, there's a good chunk of swearing in this chapter. So, if that offends you then you might wanna stop here.

Disclaimer: I obviously own NOTHING. NOOOTHING. All characters are property of their respective owner(s) (namely Mr. Tim Burton)

 **The End of An Eternity**

Chapter Two – Alone With A Memory

 **Four Years Ago**

"Lydia dear? I told you watch that...that," Delia Deetz struggled with the words as she flimsily pointed, waggling her finger towards the gaping hole in the living room floor. Just looking at the hole in the floor made her skin crawl from the dreadful memory of how it came to be. Awful memory aside, it was _such_ an eye sore aesthetically.

"Hole?" Lydia responded helpfully, finishing Delia's sentence. "Yeah, I know mother. It's pretty tough to miss," Lydia said with a little playful sarcasm and a warm smile. Delia shot her an earnest look and just shook her head. "Just...don't fall in, okay? I-" she hesitated but then gave Lydia her best genuine smile though Lydia thought that it also looked slightly anxious. "I... _worry_...about you...you know?" saying the words cautiously as though she were testing the waters with Lydia as to what was acceptable mothering boundaries and what were not.

"I know, thanks...mom," Lydia smiled with a slight sheepishness. Delia smiled in return, clearly relieved that her effort to show concern had not been poorly perceived, before leaving the room. Ever since the "incident", Lydia and her step-mother Delia had been much, much closer. Being witness to a near-exorcism and surviving an attack by a crazy poltergeist all in one night apparently was great for family bonding. Or at least _her_ family. Not that Lydia was complaining. Where as Delia had been cold, awkward and had previously treated her like a nuisance before, now she seemed to be opening up and embracing her role as a step-mother for the first time. Lydia was thankful for it and had been pleasantly surprised by Delia on a few occasions. When she wasn't acting like an entitled witch, Delia actually had a very loving and warm side to her. For the last week, her parents had fussed over her and had been much more attentive then they ever had in the last year. It had been a bit overboard for Lydia's comfort at some times (almost suffocating) but it was a welcome change compared to how she used to felt ignored and overlooked by them.

Lydia had seen that night (and every day since) how Delia had been genuinely concerned for her well being and since that night, Lydia had taken care to cut Delia some slack in an effort to show appreciation of her new found efforts in trying to be a good mom.

Lydia peered into the hole cautiously and curiously and as she did, she felt goosebumps form on her skin. When it had all happened, that night, the hole had seemed to stretch down into a dark abyss of forever, leading to god only knows where.

Now?

Mysteriously, it had just become a normal dirt hole in which Lydia could very easily see the bottom. However, a part of her still half expected for the dirt to fall away and become the same dark abyss that it had been once more.

It had been about a week, maybe slightly more, since _that_ night and already Delia had contacted contractors to come in and begin covering the hole and repairing the floor in the house. It would only be a matter of time now and at that thought, Lydia felt her shoulders slump a little bit in sadness.

Lydia and her parents had made the hasty choice to move to a neighboring town called Peaceful Pines, which was not far from Winter River. As a gesture of gratitude for helping to save Lydia, her parents had decided that they would in turn repair the Maitland's house and return it to them, keeping the property in the Deetz's name so that no one else could ever touch it or sell it off. The house would be forever theirs to haunt. As an added token of kindness, Delia had even offered to remodel the house in an effort to return it to it's former glory as best as could be managed before they moved. Lydia remembered Barbara being so happy that she cried, minus the tears because ghosts couldn't actually cry real tears.

It was another act that had genuinely touched and surprised Lydia concerning Delia. The initial choice to move had saddened Lydia a little bit more than she would admit to those around her. Losing the ability to see the Maitlands on a daily basis hurt her more than she may have admitted out loud but she knew it was the right thing to do. The house rightfully belonged to Adam and Barbara, she felt that in her heart.

Also, she couldn't blame her father or Delia for feeling edgy and uncomfortable in the house after what had gone down. They said they had wanted a _real_ , fresh start. Lydia had only agreed on the grounds that they move close enough for her to be able to bike over and visit the Maitlands from time to time.

And so, it had been agreed and decided that they would move to Winter River once the house renovations and repairs were complete.

Lydia drew in a small breath then slowly exhaled and pulled herself back away from the gaping hole in the living room floor. She hoisted her backpack up onto her shoulder, having just recently arrived home from school. She didn't see Adam or Barbara though she suspected that they were either in the attic or in the Neitherworld taking care of any residual messy business or trouble that night may have been caused as a result of the incident that had happened. As she re-adjusted her backpack, she heard her pencil topple out and go rolling. It stopped by the wall.

She trotted over to retrieve it and what she saw caused her to freeze in place and her heart skipped a beat.

Snuggled between her pencil and the wall was a small, all-too-familiar ring. It appeared to be silver and was adorned with what Lydia guessed was a black pearl. If it had it not been residing on a severed finger when it had first been presented to her, Lydia may have found it to be rather beautiful at the time. She glanced around to make sure Delia or her father were not around before scooping the ring up warily and gripping it in the palm of her hand. She quickly headed to her room. "Mom! Dad!? I'm going to be in my room, doing home work!"

"All right Pumpkin!" her dad called back from somewhere within the household.

Once safely within the confines of her room, she quietly closed the door and tossed her backpack onto her bed and opened her hand, looking at the ring that sat in the middle of her palm. It felt strangely cold despite the fact that she had been gripping it in her warm hand for the last minute or so. Looking at the ring evoked strange, inexplicable feelings within her. She remembered that night vividly; the giant worm crashing through the ceiling, the wedding that almost was and most of all, she remembered _him_.

It struck her as more than a little odd that some part of her _actually_ felt sympathy for him. Sure, what he had done was skeevy and rotten and under-handed but she remained uncertain if he had _really_ deserved the fate that had befallen him. Being eaten whole by that monstrous worm seemed a bit harsh when she thought back upon it. She had also remembered how genuinely terrified he had seemed in those small moments right before the worm had come crashing down onto him, jaws open wide.

Thinking back on it now, she had also remembered the fact that he easily could have harmed or even killed Delia and her father that night but instead they had escaped the ordeal unscathed physically (if not just a little shaken mentally). Even the Maitlands, he had kept his part of the awful bargain they had made and saved them even though, given his power, he easily could have went back on his end of the deal and just proceeded with the wedding anyway and let them perish...again. It certainly would have been two less obstacles in his way and yet, he had not harmed any of them save for Maxie and Sarah Dean who _still_ had not been located. Lydia had a hard time feeling too much sympathy for them though given how they had been the ones to egg Otho on with the exorcism of the Maitlands and had gleefully watched as they shriveled away, suffering, like it was some kind of sick side show act.

Lydia continued to stare at the ring that sat in her palm with so many thoughts and feelings and questions. Without considering it fully, she absent-mindedly slipped the ring on out of sheer curiosity, lost in her thoughts.

She admired it for a long moment in complete silence. It fit her finger perfectly and it really was very beautiful the way the light gleamed off the black pearl. When the light hit it just so, it had a green luminesce about it that Lydia couldn't help but love and admire.

" _ **YOU**_!" an enraged voice shouted, tearing through the silence and Lydia screamed as she jumped about two feet into the air, immediately being snapped out of her reverie. " _ **YOU STIFFED ME!**_ _..._ _ **LITERALLY**_!"

Lydia's blood froze in her veins and in terror she turned towards the source of the all too familiar voice. It couldn't be. There was just _no_ way. _NO_ way.

It was coming from her mirror.

Hesitantly, she moved so that she could peer into the mirror, still keeping a healthy distance from it. What she saw inside the mirror made her cover her mouth with one hand and she immediately turned and bolted for the door to her room. As her hand gripped the brass knob, she paused as he spoke again, her heart racing so fast that it felt as though it could bust through her ribcage at any moment.

" _Why are you stopping_?!" her brain screamed. Why WAS she stopping? Was her body and mind just so over come with fear that she couldn't move?

"Don't you run away again! Even if ya do, I'll just be here waitin' for ya when ya get back! I got allllll the time in the world babe..." Beetlejuice said, glaring at her as he leaned threateningly against the glass of her mirror, his palms pressed flat against it's surface.

Lydia wanted to scream but her throat felt tight and dry, her hand shaking on the door knob. " _Get out! Open that door and_ _ **run**_!" her mind continued to scream but suddenly, a thought hit her out of nowhere. Despite her terror and panic, she somehow remembered her thoughts of sympathy for him that had transpired moments ago. How he had kept his bargain to save Barbara and Adam and how she had panicked and flaked out on her end (understandably). It took a very long moment before she could calm herself enough to manage to turn slowly and face the ghoul within her mirror. Once she did, she took in his appearance and noticed that he was back to wearing his dirty, black-white, striped suit. He sat leaning against her mirror frame, looking quite irritated and pissed off and shooting her a look that could have melted ice.

Finally, somehow, Lydia found her voice but it came out as strained and meek, "H-how are...you...in my _mirror_...?" she asked timidly. Beetlejuice's expression fell flat and he gave her a look that spoke for itself and seemed to ask, "Are you really that dumb?" Finally, he gave a dramatic sigh and answered, "Uh...common knowledge that mirrors are gateways of communication for the dead...DURRRR," he said, transforming his head into that of a donkey's and braying noisily. It caused Lydia to jump just a little out of surprise.

"What about that _thing_? The-the worm? I saw it eat you," she squeaked, shuddering as she remembered the terrifying memory of it. Compared to that worm, the ghost before her was positively tame in terms of terror. He leveled his gaze at her, eyes still narrowed coldly and his voice laced with venom, "Oh well, you mean the fucking SAND WORM that you and that Babs chick fed me to? Lucky for me, the ghost with the most isn't so easily done away with. I'll spare you the...gory," he began and grinned devilishly as blood dripped down her mirror's surface before he snapped his fingers and it disappeared as quickly as it had come. "Details since I'm bettin' that you don't actually give a rat's ass," he said and began to pick at his ear with his pinkie nail, feigning disinterest in her.

"I'm...sorry about that," Lydia found herself awkwardly apologizing, the words just tumbling out of her mouth. "I really am. I didn't mean for that to happen to you. I'm sure Barbara didn't wa-"

"You're _sorry_?" he said incredulously, cutting her off and tilting his head, his eyes narrowing once more. "What are ya? _Dense_? Like a little ol' 'sorry' is goin' to fix the fact that you cheated me and now here I am _still_ stuck in this hell hole!" he yelled.

"I'm _NOT_ dense!" Lydia spoke up, quite offended at both the ghost's implications and his excessive language.

"Well, well, well look at kitty's claws finally come out. Funny 'cause uh... here I was thinkin' you were a weasel seeing as how you _**weaseled**_ your way outta our deal!" he shot back heatedly. Lydia crossed her arms, feeling herself ease up in spite of the situation. "I'm _TWELVE_ , thirteen in two months. It wasn't on my list of aspirations in life to be married to a _ghost_ by the age of twelve!" she retorted. "Besides, what are _**YOU**_ doing trying to get a twelve year old to _**MARRY**_ you?!" she countered defensively.

That seemed to catch him off guard and she took note of how he edged away from the side of the mirror, looking genuinely taken aback and actually shocked by that new bit of information. "You're... _TWELVE_?! I thought you were _at least_ fifteen or somethin' or..." he seemed visibly flustered and waved his hands dramatically. " **I DIDN'T KNOW!**! But all the black and the...the...the..." he waved his finger, gesturing in her direction at her attire, "I dunno, _teenaged angst_! Don't blame _ME_!" he huffed, arms crossed in a haughty manner as though he'd been personally insulted. "And anyway, the marriage was just goin' to be to get me out, basically all for show! You think I was _seriously_ goin' to stick around and play house with YOU?" he snorted exaggeratedly and began picking his teeth with the same nail that had previously been in his ear.

"Why _do_ you want out so badly?" Lydia asked, tilting her head ever so slightly and narrowing her eyes in curiosity.

Beetlejuice rolled his head so that he was looking right at her and shot her a look of severe annoyance. "Not that you really care, sweet cheeks, or else you'd have kept your end of our little bargain and helped me out BUUUT for your information, wittle Miss. Nosey," he said with a nasally tone that was mocking in nature as his nose grew pointed briefly before he pushed it back in. "It's that damn name curse. The one and _ONLY_ way I can break the damn curse is to get married," he fluttered his hands at his sides in a lovey-dovey fashion as he said the word, "married". "To someone from the land of the living specifically. Ya know, kinda like you take my name? Well, I take whatever humanly form that my spouse so happens to be," he explained.

"So you mean...if you marry a living person as a ghost then you become alive yourself!" Lydia said, finishing his sentence.

"Bin-go," he said and reached behind his ear and pulled out a roach before noisily crunching into it and smacking his lips. Lydia grimaced, feeling her stomach turn.

"Also then my name becomes their name and then it breaks the summoning curse 'cause ya can't summon someone who's alive and blah, blah, blah," he said and Lydia watched as he slouched down in the mirror, actually looking somewhat dejected. "What the fuck does it matter now?" he moped, running a pale-purplish colored hand over his face, making his face droop and sag.

"For a ghost you have quite a filthy mouth," Lydia chastised him, crossing her arms in disapproval.

"I'd have it no other way kid," Beetlejuice said proudly and shot her a toothy grin and Lydia could see just how gross and wretched his teeth were. She even swore that she saw a bug leg stuck between two of his teeth. "Besides, you ain't my mommy!" he said and transformed into a slightly hunched, hobbled old ghoulish lady with green, wrinkled skin and blue-ish, greyed hair momentarily before poofing back to his normal form. He then grinned nastily, shooting her a sneaky glance from the corner of his eyes.

"Shit, fuck, fuck, damn, damn, son of a bitchin', fuckin'-" he sang vulgarly, seeming quite pleased with himself.

Lydia glared and briefly considered just tossing the mirror out of her bedroom window and being done with it _and_ him but she still had questions that she very much wanted answered and this was likely her only chance to find those answers.

"SO... _Beetlejuice_ ," she began, a sly tone creeping into her voice. "You want out of that mirror...right, _BEETLEJUICE_?" she put extra emphasis on the second time she said his name and that shut him up right quick, exactly as she had planned. It was her turn to smirk in his direction as she observed him perk up at the repeated mention of his name.

"Don't tease me kid, I don't like bein' teased, _especially_ by kids," he growled.

"Okay, then answer my questions and maaaaaybe we can make a deal," she offered and he scoffed and rolled his eyes so hard that they tumbled out of his skull. "Yeah, I know how good YOU are about keepin' yer deals," he said, looking around blindly for his eyes at the bottom of the mirror.

Lydia considered that and actually felt a twinge of shame. "Fair enough but I _did_ apologize, which I meant, but this time, I _promise_ to hold up my end," she offered, crossing her heart with her finger.

"What's a... pro-miss? That don't exactly mean shit to me sweetie cakes," he said, shrugging as if the whole conversation and suggestion was a waste of his time.

" _ **Language**_ or the deal is off!" she bellowed and indignantly, he scoffed at her. A moment of silence passed between them before he spoke again. "I'm liiiiiistttteeeennnniiinnnggg," he said patronizingly in a nasally, sarcastic voice, folding both hands and then placing them under his chin and leaning forward to give her his whole attention.

"Answer my questions first and _then_ I'll tell you the deal I have in mind, okay?" she asked gently and moved slightly closer, still not entirely trusting him to be within three feet of the mirror.

"Yer _awful_ bossy for a twelve year old, you know that kid?" he said, raising an eye brow at her. "So, I've been told," Lydia responded but took that to be his way of agreeing to her questioning and she began.

"First of all, how are you in my mirror all of a sudden? I get that mirrors are a means of communication but...why now? Why not days ago?"

He pointed straight to her, his face completely dead panned as if this was something that was achingly obvious. She looked around herself trying to figure out what he was pointing to but then looked back to him, still clueless, and held her hands up, palms open, shrugging.

"That's... _my_...ring," he said slowly, trying to keep his voice as patient as he could manage as he pointed to her hand. "You put that puppy on and it's like some kinda psychic link between you and I. Poof, I can contact you. Here I am. Yer welcome. Next question."

"Deadly vu," Lydia breathed, glancing at the ring on her hand in astonishment that such magic actually existed.

"Come again?" Beetlejuice said, raising a single eyebrow while still keep his expression bored.

"I had no idea," she breathed, still eyeing the ring with tremendous awe, holding her hand out in front of her and admiring the little item.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... **NEXT QUESTION!** " he yelled, his thin patience wearing even thinner.

Lydia looked back to him and nodded. "All right, all right, don't get your undies in a bunch," she muttered and to her surprise, the poltergeist in her mirror jerked oddly and grit his teeth. His expression became one of severe discomfort before screeching, "YEEAGH!"

"What happened?!" Lydia asked, eyes wide with confusion.

"...Do... _NOT_...say that again!" he glowered at her then began to fidget and dig and pick at his bottom.

It took Lydia a only a second to realize what exactly had happened and she tried hard to stifle a laugh with her hand. He shot her a severe case of stink-eye and then when he had composed himself, he went back to leaning lazily against the side of the mirror's frame. "Glad ya got yer chuckles in kid," he said sarcastically.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed," she sincerely apologized and put a hand over her heart to show that she meant it. "Second question," she began, locking her eyes onto him and casting a suspicious glance at him. "Why didn't you hurt my parents that night? Or anyone else for that matter? Speaking of deals, you are surprisingly honest in keeping your end of a bargain. Wouldn't it have just been easier to let Barbara and Adam be exorcised, kill my parents and then have married me anyway and been done with it?" she paused for a moment then added, "Instead, you kept your end of the deal. That was pretty honest of you."

She watched as Beetlejuice turned green and slammed a hand against his mouth. His cheeks puffed and his eyes grew wide as his pupils became small dots.

"What...?" Lydia asked curiously, actually feeling another twinge of worry for him. "Are you...okay? Did I say something again?"

"...Don't _ever_ call me hon-" he heaved as if he were going to vomit then put a fist against his chest, swallowed and tried again. "Hon-" he covered his mouth again and shook his head from side to side. "I can't...c-can't say it," he conceded, hunching over.

"Honest?" Lydia said helpfully and with that she jumped back in shock as he spray vomited all over the inside of her mirror. Lydia's lip curled in disgust but she was severely relieved that it seemed to all be contained behind the mirror's surface. After a moment, the ghost wiped the surface with a handkerchief, wiping off the vomit then dabbed at his mouth and let out an obscene belch.

"Lovely," Lydia grimaced but she made a mental note to avoid using that word when speaking with him for future dealings. "Well?" she pressed after a moment and Beetlejuice, still looking queasy, said, "Er...what was the question again...?"

"Why didn't you hurt us that night?" she repeated, paraphrasing all her questions into one simple question.

"I never planned to hurt ya! What part of 'I just wanted out' do you _not_ understand? I'm a ghost, not a demon. I don't kill people. Well, not regularly anyway. I save that for holidays and special occasions," he teased but Lydia stiffened noticeably at his answer.

He deadpanned, "It's a _joke_ ," he said and Lydia sighed in relief then after a moment he muttered under his breath, "Kinda," and snickered to himself. Lydia hesitantly continued, choosing her next words carefully as she knew that this was a big question.

"Can-" she hesitated but quickly worked up the courage " _Now or never_."

"Can humans, living humans, get over...there?" she asked timidly, searching his face for a reaction as she pointed to the mirror.

He smirked, crossing his arms and looked at her as though he had discovered a dirty secret of hers. "Ah, yeah, I remember. You want in here for some crazy reason, right?" Lydia's face flushed a bit and she defiantly shook her head. "Not...like _that_. Not anymore. I mean, can a _living_ human get over there without _dying_ first? You told me before that if I helped you that maybe we could 'talk'. Did that mean that you know a way to get me over there?" she pressed, not realizing that she had stepped closer to the mirror. He fidgeted a bit at that question and avoided her stare. "Wellllll," he said, beating around the bush.

"Be hon- don't lie," she quickly corrected herself.

"I mean, it's not like I make a hobby out of bringin' fleshies over here on a daily basis," he began and Lydia felt her heart began to sink.

"So, you, when you said we'd 'talk' about it, you really had no intention of helping me, right?" Lydia said sullenly.

"Whoa, wait a minute, whoa, hold the phone," he said quickly and held up his hands. "When I make a deal? I keep my end of it...usually. To answer your question, _yes_ , there's a way but before you go getting' any funny ideas kid, I've never tried it personally and I'm pretty sure that it'd be breakin' about oh, say, a hundred and one worldly rules," he said, giving her a serious look. Lydia glanced back up at him, her head still hung and with a sad frown etched onto her face. She was surprised to see a malicious smile upon his face when she glanced at him.

"But, me, myself, I've always been more of a rule breaker than a rule maker. What are rules if not for breakin'!?" he said mischievously, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Upon hearing his words, Lydia perked up like a wilted flower who had just been given some water. She didn't share his enthusiasm about breaking any rules but, admittedly, if it meant getting to see the world of the dead, she would have done just about anything.

"So...will you do it? If I let you out?" she asked hopefully, arms now crossed on her vanity and leaning in closer to her mirror, her interest piqued. He eyed her with a sly smile and his eyebrows raised. "This is your deal, huh kid? If I agree to let you in, I get to come out and play?"

Lydia gave a short nod. "Could you do it? Would you be willing to try?"

"Sure, I'd be willin' to give it a go, can't make ya any promises but hey! What's the worst that's gunna happen, right? Aside from you, ya know, actually kickin' the bucket but even if you do, you'll still get to the Neitherworld so it's win-win either way!" he said cackling as if this was one big joke.

"But I _don't_ want to die!" Lydia said a bit more snappishly than she had intended.

"Well, sorry kid-o that's just a risk that you run when you attempt to cross into the world o' the dead," he said with a shrug as if what he was saying was simple logic. "You don't like it then don't go. No skin off my back!" he said and with those words, a large flap of skin peeled straight off his back. Lydia bit her lip and considered the looming prospect. If the journey over did in fact kill her, what would that do to her parents? Would they even find her body? That was the only thought that made her briefly reconsider as she felt a stab of guilt when she imagined their faces when they learned that she was missing. She wracked her brain, desperately trying to work out a way around the potential consequences. Then it hit her and she snapped her fingers. "I got it!" she declared out loud, triumphantly.

"Eh, got what?" Beetlejuice asked, curling a lip at her but seeming to be actually interested.

If she died, either way she'd be in the Neitherworld, like he had said. If the worst in fact happened, she could at least meet up with Barbara and Adam and relay the information of her death to them and maybe learn how to reach her parents to talk to them and explain about what had happened. It definitely wasn't the kindest of plans or probably the best or safest but she had never wanted something more badly in her life and it was, at present, all she could think of. She _had_ to try.

"Nothing," she said, waving a hand at Beetlejuice in an effort to sway his questioning. "Are you sure that you can do this?" she asked once more, eyes locked on his with nothing but seriousness.

"Hey! You happen to be talkin' to THEE ghost with THEE most here! There's _NOTHIN_ ' I can't do," he bragged and puffed out his chest, jabbing his own thumb at it. "...Except math," he added and gagged and cringed. "Ain't touching that with a ten foot pole. Nee-ope," he said and Lydia had to duck as a pole literally shot out of her mirror. Lydia couldn't help but giggle at that joke. She wasn't the most fond of math herself.

"Your powers really are incredible," she said honestly once she had stopped giggling and once the pole disappeared. Beetlejuice raised an eyebrow at her, the compliment catching him slightly off-guard but he was never one to shy away from praise of any sort. "Aww shucks, ya really think so?" he said and shuffled a foot in false modesty. Lydia giggled again at the gesture and nodded eagerly. "Of course I do! I haven't seen Barbara and Adam display powers that are anything even remotely close to what you've shown me."

"Well, you haven't seen NOTHIN' yet! Just say those pretty, little B-words and let me out and I'll show you what I can REALLY do!" he said anxiously with an excited grin.

"I will...but..." she began to consider something, holding a finger to her chin in contemplation.

" _But_?" he asked, his excitement momentarily on hold.

"I'm not just going to let you roam about and wreak havoc to your heart's content. Sorry, no way," she said, crossing her arms.

"WHAAAAT!? How could you think that of little, old, ME? I'm crushed," and at that moment a heavy boulder fell from the sky within the mirror, crushing him flat as a pancake. He then apparated back to normal.

"If I let you out then we have to lay down some ground rules. This is going to be a mutual thing. You scratch my back and I scratch yours kinda thing," Lydia explained. Beetlejuice shook his head in a "no" fashion so quick that it flew off his shoulder and he caught it with his hands.

"Uh...uh-uh. Nope. No can do," he explained as he plopped his head back onto it's rightful spot.

"Why not?!" Lydia demanded.

Beetlejuice floated up onto his back, arms behind his head nonchalantly, his eyes closed. "I don't do 'rules' remember? Especially not rules set out by some...kid," he said, looking like an indignant child as he snootily closed his eyes and turned his face away from her in protest.

"Fine then but you _might_ want to consider your options here," she suggested with a knowing smile. The ghost in her mirror opened one eye to look at her out of curiosity

Once she was sure that she had his attention, she went on talking. "You can either obey a couple of small, measly rules and have almost unlimited freedom to come over here pretty much whenever you want or..."

"Or...?" Beetlejuice asked, suddenly suspicious of the look on her face and the way she was smiling.

She leaned into the mirror and smiled knowingly in his direction. "Or you may as well go find another house to haunt," she shrugged. "Oh, that is _**if**_ you can even find anyone that you can successfully make contact with if you do."

"Whaddya playing' at?" Beetlejuice asked, all the indignation from a moment ago gone from his expression. Lydia was all to happy to explain her family's plan about the Maitlands getting the house back and how Lydia and her family intended to protect the house for generations, if need be, by preventing anyone from moving into it.

She then watched as the color literally drained from Beetlejuice's whole body, including his suit, with the sound effect of a drain draining liquid.

"So, I guess you are going to be getting better acquainted with Barbara and Adam since they are the only ones who will be left in this house. Or I suppose that you can go through all the trouble of searching for some other house to haunt but even then, there's no guarantee that you'll be getting what you want since I wager that making contact without _this_ ," she held out her hand with the ring on it, displaying it before the mirror. "Will be pretty difficult buuuuut," Lydia dramatically sighed and turned away from the mirror to hide a smile that had crept upon her face. "I guess that's just how it is. Best wishes B.J."

She knew she had him as she heard him shout a loud, "SON OF A-mmrrmmm. Mmm. Hmmm. Mmm," but stopping himself before he could say anything further. She waited for a few seconds before she turned and made a show of pretending to remove the ring from her fingers.

"Whoa! Wait, wait, wait, wait, waaaaaaaaait!" he cried, waving his hands hysterically and then laughed nervously.

She shot him an innocent smile and he deadpanned yet again, slapping a hand over his face. "Okay, you got me kid. What do I gotta do?" he asked irritably, grumbling something that she couldn't quite catch.

"I propose that we put the past behind us, let bygones be bygones, start over as friends and help each other out. You help me get to the Neitherworld, _alive_ , and in exchange, I let you out pretty much whenever you want. You _have_ to agree to some things though like..." she scrunched her face slightly, deep in thought.

"No showing yourself to my parents or anyone else for that matter. People _can't_ know about you," she explained, trying to convey the seriousness of that request by giving him a stern look before continuing.

"Also, no hurting anyone and no using your powers on me to try and get me to do what YOU want. I _MEAN_ it."

Beetlejuice glanced at her casually as if this was all just common knowledge. "First off, I don't particularly want anyone else knowin' my name because then poof, I'm here, poof, I'm there and before ya know it, your great aunt Hilda, twice removed's barber's son's mom's sister's doctor's brother's summonin' me and it just ain't conducive to my overall lifestyle, all right? Been there, done that, not fun, movin' on. So, there's your number one taken care of," he coughed onto his sleeve and rubbed it into his jacket. "As for number two and three..." he let a long moment of tension pass before finally mumbling, "Fine."

"I didn't hear you," Lydia pressed.

"I said FINE! I won't hurt anyone or use my powers on ya," Beetlejuice snapped. "Just sap all the fun outta it why don't ya?"

"Also, _NO SWEARING_. At least around me," she said, arms crossed once more to convey her seriousness. Beetlejuice screwed up his facial features, looking at her as though she had just suggested that he do the impossible. "What is it with you? What do you care if I swear?"

"I just don't care for it. If we're going to be friends, I want to be able to talk to you without hearing you curse like a sailor every two minutes," she replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "If you do? I can always send you right back," she warned.

"Yaaaaarrr but it be so fun to swear! Ye should try it...c'mon wee lass," he pressed her playfully, now in full pirate garb.

"No," she said simply, not budging and trying not to smile.

"C'mon...hows about now?" he asked, batting his eyes and clasping his hands together.

"Uh-uh. Still no," she responded, turning her head and pretending to ignore him.

"Mmmmmm, now?"

"Nope"

"Annnnnddd...how about now?!" he pressed into the mirror eagerly.

"Sorry, still not a go," she said, fighting the urge to smile but she was dead set to keep her resolve.

"Aaaaggghhh, fine," Beetlejuice grumbled something that she didn't quite hear and resumed his normal form, slumping forward in defeat. "What was that?" she asked, shooting him a sideways glance.

"Nothing! I was just saying how deeeeeelightfully _dandy_ that rule is!" he gave his best wide-eyed, innocent, puppy dog look but Lydia wasn't buying it and she just rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay c'mooooon! Is that all? Are we done flapping our gums? Do we have a deal?! I agreed to your terms now make with the B-words kid!"

"That's another thing, stop calling me 'kid'. I'm almost thirteen. I'm not a little kid."

Beetlejuice groaned, losing patience and began to tug at his hair. "OKAY! FINE! I'll call you bro-ham if you want...just... _say it_ ," he pleaded desperately.

Lydia hesitated. Was this really a good idea? What if he lied? What if he used his powers to manipulate her again (or worse)? What if this was the chance he was looking for to have his revenge?

" _Should have thought of that before, too late now,_ " she thought.

Lydia heaved a heavy sigh and then tried to summon all of her courage. Her brain was right. He had kept his part of the bargain before and he had given her no reason to distrust him...yet. She had already flaked out on him once and she was not going to do it again. She didn't like breaking her promises to _anyone_. Besides those reasons, something in her gut was begging her to take this chance, as unexplainable as it was and it very much was completely unexplainable.

"Beetlejuice..." she began tentatively, her thoughts and pulse racing, trying to ignore all logic that was screaming at her to reconsider.

"Beetlejuice," she continued and very hesitantly put a hand to the mirror, palm flat. The ghost in the mirror watched her anxiously, still as a predator watching it's prey, intent to see if she'd actually say that final word, pressed against the glass like a wild animal knowing it was about to be freed.

"...Beetlejuice."

There was a series of flashes of light and her bed rattled and the floor shook and then before she could fully register anything else happening, he was before her, free from the mirror. His hand grabbed and held her own as his other hand snaked around her waist and he spun them both then dipped her back gently, in a sort of odd, tango-like dance move.

"Ahhh!" she softly cried in surprise as she dipped down then came back up to meet his cheshire grin, nearly face to face with his ghoulish grin and death breath.

"Babes," Beetlejuice began with a great, big grin plastered on his face. "Me thinks this is the beginning of a beeeeeeeautiful friendship!"

 **Present Day**

Lydia sat up in her bed, awakening from the memory that had been cloaked in a dream. She remembered the memory very, very well and had never forgotten it. It was the moment when her whole life had changed completely, for the best. Usually, recalling the memory brought a warm smile to her face. Remembering just how different they both had been back then and thinking on how close they had become (practically inseparable now) in the present. It usually filled her with an abundance of warm fuzzies and happy feelings but now? It just hurt to have to recall it. It felt like a vice was squeezing her heart without mercy. Maybe, in looking back, he hadn't changed that much. Maybe she had been the one who had changed. And why did she expect Beetlejuice to be or do anything but be himself? Shouldn't she have just grinned and bore it and accepted that was just how he was? But his actions _had_ hurt her and she didn't think that she was asking much in the grand scheme of things other than for him to put a little importance on one day that was supposed to be meaningful to them both. But why did it matter so much to her how special _he_ considered the day? He celebrated it with her, didn't he? Wasn't that enough?

Lydia gripped her head with both hands and fell back into her pillow, her raven black hair scattered around her. Her thoughts were going in vicious circles and they were preventing her from going back to sleep. Worser yet, there was just an endless parade of questions with no particular answers. She suddenly began to feel alone in a way that she had not felt for many years. The old, familiar, horrid feeling gripped her heart and mind tightly and she felt her eyes begin to water.

"Beetle..." she began but stopped herself, her throat choking up.

She rolled onto her stomach and gripped her pillow tightly in her fists. She buried her face into it, and tried her very best to swallow back the tears that the memory had brought on. She wanted her best friend right then and there but more than that, she wanted to know that their friendship, their memories meant to him what it meant to her. She wanted to know that everything they shared wasn't so trivial as to be thrown under the bus for his next get rich quick scam or sneaky prank.

" _Fuck_ ," Lydia swore softly into her pillow as the tears gave way despite her best efforts and she began to cry.

 **Author's note** : Phew. Long chapter. Also, I apologize if this chapter comes off as weird. I so very much wanted to blend the movie and cartoon together (though I'll admit it's more cartoon-ish) but that became a little easier said than done. I kept being tempted to write cartoon Beetlejuice and Lydia versus movie Lydia and Beetlejuice and that probably shows. Anyway, I still hope that it was a good read. Also, I promise that the next chapter will see Beetlejuice and Lydia making amends. I'm not going to drag this fight out for too long but I did want to write it because it is getting at something bigger.

Please review (if you feel inclined). If you love this so far, review and let me know! If you hate it and it sucks, let me know anyway. I don't mind hearing how or what I can improve upon. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3 - Are We Still Best Friends?

**Author's note:**

All righty, setting up the plot in this chapter. Will kinda be introducing the villain here...kinda. Just keep reading, I promise it will all eventually make sense.

Disclaimer: I obviously own NOTHING. NOOOTHING. All characters are property of their respective owner(s) (namely Mr. Tim Burton)

 **The End of An Eternity**

Chapter Three – Are We Still Best Friends?

The night had been beyond aggravating for Beetlejuice. His thoughts were running wild, literally. Thought balloons were running all over his room at the road house. Each balloon had little legs and sneakers for optimal running and dashing. They scampered to and fro, making sleep quite impossible for Beetlejuice. He rested in his coffin bed, on his back, eyes open but blood shot, arms crossed behind his head, thinking back on the events of the day.

" _It's just getting old._ "

Lydia's last words to him kept echoing in his mind and kept inspiring new running thought balloons to pop in and appear and join the others in their frolicking about his room.

What had she really meant by that? Did she mean that _HE_ was getting old to her? He had always considered his scams to be all in good, dirty, playful fun and if one happened to succeed? Well, that was just pure beetle guts on the cake as far as he was concerned. As for his pranks, they were his idea of fun and a huge part of who he was and always had been. He had been certain, up until now, that Lydia mostly enjoyed them too. Sure, every so often he may, big _MAY_ , have taken one of them a step too far but pranking was what he did. As far as he was concerned, pranks were the spice of life!

But now, he was confused and befuddled and doubtful. He had not felt right since those words had hit his ears. It all led into some bigger worry for him. If pranks and fun scams were growing old to Lydia, maybe, just maybe, he was growing old to her too.

"The thought has me all broken up," he confessed to the empty room full of his own thoughts. Upon saying that, cracks formed all over his body and limbs and he shattered into tiny pieces and just laid there for a few moments, feeling completely miserable and at a loss. He had never considered until this moment that as Lydia grew older that she might out grow him. That maybe their friendship was just a passing fancy of her childhood years.

The thought itself made him miserable. He would have never admitted it to anyone but the secret truth was that his after-life before meeting Lydia was a lot less...everything. Less fun, less colorful, less special, just...less. He still had been notorious for pulling pranks, scamming people and general trouble making way before he had met Lydia but with Lydia tagging along, it somehow meant something more to him because they always would wind up having fun together, most times. It was actually secretly rewarding to have her giggle at his jokes and antics since most just groaned and rolled their eyes or generally acted like he was wasting their time. And the adventures they had that some of his scams had led to? He wouldn't have traded them for the entire Neitherworld.

"AAAAGGGGHHHH!" he screamed and went back to his whole self but began beating his fists against his skull. He hated thinking, he hated feelings and he hated that living folks aged. No, scratch that, he didn't care who aged, so long as it wasn't _his_ Lydia. Then the anger set in like rolling liquid lava and with it, appeared a little mini-him with devil horns who climbed up on his shoulder and perched. The horned-him wore a tuxedo very similar to the one he had once worn when he had attempted to marry Lydia so long ago.

"What are you doing moping like some sad sack?! You're the ghost with the MOST, not the ghost with the most melodrama!" the little imp said, jabbing it's pointy tail into the side of his neck.

Beetlejuice just groaned, teeth clenched as he ran a hand over his face. He'd usually loved and reveled in that title. He'd always declared it so proudly, like a verbal badge of honor, but after Lydia's present that she had given him and the events of the day, now it just sounded like cruel mocking when said out loud.

"So she's pissed, so _what_? Chicks get pissed. _Especially_ teenaged chicks. She'll get over it or she won't. YOU aren't the one who's changed pal," the horned, devil-him pointed out as it flicked it's tail and lit up a cigarette, taking a slow drag.

"Yeah! That's right," Beetlejuice muttered, his brow furrowed and his expression gruff.

"You were alone once before and, yeah, sure, it wasn't as fun as it was with her but who needs that kinda fun if one day it's just goin' to go away and nothin' you do can change it?" the devil proposed. Beetlejuice didn't know where this little bastard had come from but at the moment, what he was saying was making an awful lot of sense right now.

However, even though it may have made some sense, the rock of guilt that had been at the bottom of his stomach all day was still there.

Suddenly, there was a soft poof of air against his neck and a small, angel-winged version of him appeared on his opposite shoulder. The angel-him was dressed in a grungy, white tux with a beetle broach and a green handkerchief tucked into the lapel pocket. He also had a moth eaten top hat and finished off the look with a white cane. "If what he's saying is true then why do you still feel guilty? _Hmmm_?" the angel-him asked in a snooty tone as it leaned upon it's white cane on his shoulder.

Beetlejuice narrowed his eyes at the angel-winged abomination. "I like him a lot better," Beetlejuice said and jerked a thumb at the devil on his opposite shoulder who flipped the angel-him the finger and sneered.

The angel softened a bit and in it's most sympathetic tone it rationalized, "She's your best friend. She's the _only_ person who has ever accepted you for who you really are, rotten smells and all, and she somehow adores you for it. Why would that change now just because she's a little older? Maybe you owe it to yourself and to her to at least try and ask her about it, don't you think?"

Dammit, now this little winged punk was making good sense too. The only problem with that plan was...

"Yeah but...I'm no good at talking about f-f-feeeeeeel-" he panted and tried again, gritting his teeth, straining to get the word out. "F-f-feelings!" he managed but shuddered and pretending to wipe sweat off his brow. Then, all joking aside, he sat up over the side of his coffin bed, swinging his legs over and hunching over hopelessly. "Maybe if that's what Lyds needs now then...maybe she's better off without the likes of me," he said, feeling sorry for himself. The thought alone killed him in a way worse than his mortal death had ever been. "I'm no good at bein' the sensitive, feel-y type," he admitted, clasping his hands together then letting them rest in his lap.

"Aaaggh! Feelings are for saps," the devil said nonchalantly and took another slow drag from his cigarette, his opposite hand waving off the idea.

"Grrr..."

"Hmm?" Beetlejuice glanced over to the winged creature on his shoulder but just as he did-

"Listen here ya moron! Enough of the nicey-wicey crap!" the angel-him spat, yanking him up by the collar of his pajama shirt into mid air. The devil-him, tumbled backwards off of his opposite shoulder and smacked the ground so hard that small stars began to circle his head.

"Eeeaaagh!" Beetlejuice grimaced and a look of nervousness fixed upon his face and he looked into the tiny, angry face of the angel-him.

"You are goin' to go up there and you are goin' to talk to Lyds. I don't care HOW you do it but dammit... you...are … GOIN' … TO … _**T R Y**_!" the little angel bellowed in his face with surprising volume and force, causing Beetlejuice's hair to fly back from his face.

Beetlejuice blinked in disbelief, at a loss for words, something that rarely happened to him.

The little angel creature then brought it's little face to his and gave a look that only a seasoned psychopath could give, his nostrils flaring but his gaze like cold steel.

"Now... get to that mirror B-guy...or _else_ ," the angel threatened. In a final act of defiance, Beetlejuice scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Or else what short stuff? You're going to sprinkle glitter on me and play the harp?"

With a sudden poof, a bathtub filled with warm, sudsy water appeared beneath him. He could SMELL it's clean scent waft up to assault his nostrils and he began screaming like a man possesed. "OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY YOU WIN! YOU WIIIIIIIN!" he sobbed hysterically, kicking his legs. The tub poofed again and was gone and the fairy creature released him, still psycho faced. "Now _go_ ," he whispered in a deep, menacing tone and Beetlejuice phased out immediately, not even bothering to change his clothes before leaving. The little angel floated down to the ground and picked up the unconscious little devil and giggled sweetly and innocently in a high-pitched voice. "Sometimes you just gotta know how to motivate someone hee hee," he giggled and with a poof and a bat of his eyelashed, both vanished.

Beetlejuice phased into Lydia's mirror, panting, looking around, trembling like a scared, traumatized puppy. "L-Lyds...?" he asked nervously, his eyes darting back and forth as they scanned her room.

In the living world, it was now morning and the sun shined brightly, filtering through Lydia's lavendar-colored curtains. Beetlejuice pressed himself against the mirror in desperation and glanced around but Lydia was nowhere to be seen. Beetlejuice internally cursed his luck. The one time he had (albeit forcefully) worked up the courage to talk to Lydia about one of their fights and she wasn't even there... _of course_. Now he was faced with the daunting task of returning to the Neitherworld and potentially facing the soapy wrath of the little winged freak, whoever he was.

The thought caused Beetlejuice to cringe in absolute horror and he began banging his fists against the mirror in panic.

"LYYYYYDDDDDIIIIAAAAAAA!" he wailed.

Fortunately for him, at that moment, the door opened and in stepped Lydia, phone in her hand pressed against her ear, which she about dropped upon walking in and seeing the ghost throwing a massive temper tantrum in her mirror.

"Lyds! BABES!" Beetlejuice yelled as he pressed eagerly against the glass, neglecting to remember that he and Lydia were not on the best terms at the moment.

Lydia quickly covered the mouth end of the phone, her eyes locking with his as she held up one finger to signal him to wait.

"Uh huh, I completely agree. Frankenstein and Dracula are their own monsters and can't really be compared. I don't personally think one is any better than the other myself. I like them both," she spoke softly and then a moment later she giggled just a little bit.

Beetlejuice felt a bit off-put and immediately felt a heavy twang of jealousy hit him. Just who in the hell else was making Lydia laugh when she was supposed to be feeling sad and gloomy? That was _his_ job.

Lydia immediately cut whoever was on the phone off politely. "Hey? Nicholas? I may have to call you back a little later. I apologize. There's something urgent that I need to attend to. Okay? Yeah, yeah that's great!" she said with a hint of a smile. "Okay, deadly vu! We'll definitely have to discuss that a little later, I wanna hear all about it. Yep. You know it," she said finishing up and Beetlejuice couldn't help but eavesdrop on every word and wonder all the more intently just who the heck was the jarkwad with such a fancy pants name like... _Nicholas_?

"Bye now," she concluded and hung up the phone then brought her attention full on to Beetlejuice. She stepped up to the mirror and Beetlejuice immediately leaned forward, pressing against the glass, all other thoughts momentairly forgotten, finding that he was just so, so happy to even be seeing her after the awful day that yesterday had been.

"I have to admit, I didn't expect to see you here Beej," she spoke softly. Her voice seemed calm and steady but only because he knew her so well, could he recognize the hurt that still lingered within it. It was the voice she used when she was trying not to show just how upset she really was.

"Beetlejuice, I'm not sure that I'm ready to hang out with you-"

"PLEASE don't send me back Babes! At least not until I've said my piece! That's why I'm here. I wanna..." he swallowed, twiddling his fingers anxiously. "You _know_..."

Lydia put a hand on her hip, eyeing him. " _No_ , no I don't know," she corrected him.

Beetlejuice gulped back his growing anxiety.

"I want to...talk..." he said, his insides quaking. It was now or never. He quickly had the realization that talking about his inner most feelings to Lydia, especially knowing that she was still hurt and upset, was almost as nerve wracking as seeing a sand worm headed his way whilst licking it's chops.

"Okay," she said simply, taking a kinder stance and clasping her hands delicately in front of her. "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice," she said softly and he floated freely out of her mirror. Lydia looked him over and noticed that he was sporting a look of deep worry. He also was still in his pajamas and she quickly deduced that he had likely not slept. She may have been upset and hurt by him but Lydia was careful to never be needlessly cruel. She sat on the side of the bed and looked to him patiently, speaking as she kept her tone gentle and kind. "It's okay Beej. I'm not going to bite. You said that you wanted to talk," she explained slowly. "So, I'm going to just listen to what you have to say. No pressure, just take your time," she said, trying to fill her voice with encouragement.

Beetlejuice felt another heavy stone of guilty drop into his stomach. Here she was, hurting and upset because of something he did and yet she was still offering him patience and kindness despite it all. Lydia was a saint. No way around it.

He drew in a deep breath and began. "Lyds, I didn't mean to hurt ya. Ya _gotta_ believe that Babes," he said, fixing her with his most genuinely sympathetic look that he could muster.

"I know you didn't mean to but that doesn't change the fact that you _did_ hurt me. I was really excited for our anniversary. It's probably the one day that I look forward to the most every year-"

He cut her off, unintending, "I know, I know you were Babes and so was I! Really! The truth is, well, you know how me and the truth get along but this is it, the whole truth," he began and then clenched his eyes shut as if the admission of the truth was actually causing him pain.

"I feel the same way you do and I..." he hesitated, trailing off then hung his head in genuine remorse. "I screwed things up big time yesterday. You were right Lyds. I wasn't thinking about you, not like I shoulda have been. I just wanted us to have fun and I guess I got carried away and it came out the wrong way...I think," he confessed and Lydia felt her heart race slightly. She had never known Beetlejuice to be a ghost who would easily admit when he was wrong. For him to be before her, acknowledging it now was huge, for him, and she recongized that.

"Beej-"

"Lemme finish Babes 'cause now that the truth has started flowin', there's no stoppin' it," he said and briefly turned into a faucet. Lydia smiled genuinely and it made him feel instantly a little more comfortable.

"It's more than...just... _that_ Lyds. I got to thinkin' and...I'm realizin' that you have your life here in the living world. Your parents, school, your friends Bertha and Prudence and whoever this _Nicholas_ is," Beetlejuice said with a slight curl of his lip.

This was indeed a rare moment of genuine remorse for him and she realized just how badly that he too must have been hurting if he was had not bothered to poke fun at Bertha and Prudence by calling them "Burp" and "Prune" like he usually did. She had also caught the tone in his voice upon mentioning Nicholas' name.

"Nicholas is just a friend," she quickly corrected him.

"Point is, somehow...you've become my whole world. I'm not sure _how_ it happened but I just don't function without ya anymore Babes. Things don't have the meaning and the, well," he glanced up briefly at her, gesturing with his hand, "The _life_ that that they do when you are around me. If you aren't around then what's the point? I noticed yesterday that you-" he came to a verbal screech, thinking it best to **not** mention how the observation had come about and shuddering at her reaction if he had actually mentioned how he had noticed.

"You're growin' up Lyds and...I think...I'm just startin' to worry that you're goin' to outgrow you and I. Yesterday only fueled that worry," he confessed brokenly, not able to look her in the eyes, complete shame over taking him as he slumped, disheartened. Lydia was genuinely shocked and her mouth fell open. She hopped off the bed right away and, to his surprise, he was suddenly in her arms being wrapped in one of her warm hugs.

"Beej how could you _ever_ think that?" she said, smiling up at him, trying to reassure him.

Gradually, he was starting to feel a little foolish. The way she had spoken and the hug was starting to make him realize perhaps just how stupid that worry of his had really been. "Well, ya know...you just...kinda said yesterday that me and my pranks and scams were getting' kinda...old...and...I guess I just thought..." he trailed off, shuffling his foot and staring down at it as he confessed.

"Beetlejuice," she began and released him from her hug.

She gently placed both hands on the sides of his face and Beetlejuice was caught off guard for a moment at the tender gesture, his mouth forming a small "o" of surprise. She gingerly raised his head so that he was looking at her eye-to-eye.

"Look at me when I say this," she spoke softly and with incredible kindness and honesty. "You are my best friend and you will _always_ be my best friend. Me growing up won't change that! I love spending time with you!" she said and gave him a smile and a look that suggested that his worries were silly and completely unfounded and he found that he genuinely felt stupid for even thinking that it would change anything in the first place.

"I just meant that sometimes, I just want the special days to be...well... _special_ days and to not always be about your next scam. I still enjoy our adventures and our trips and time spent together and yeah, even your pranks. You know I love a good prank as much as anyone. Also, some of your scams can actually be pretty fun but that doesn't mean I condone them," she said, shooting him a sideways, knowing smile before continuing. "I still enjoy _you_ ," she said and poked one finger into the tip of his nose and he couldn't help but allow a smile to melt across his face. "And I always will. I just want you to be a little more considerate of our special days together and if they mean as much to you as they do to me, then treat them like such. Is that so hard?"

"Naaaah," he said with a grin as Lydia gently released his face. She held a single hand out to him in a peaceful gesture. "Still friends Beej?" she said with a hopeful smile.

" _Screw a handshake_ ," Beetlejuice thought and being so over come with relief and just general happiness that the whole mess was behind them, he gathered her into a huge bear hug and Lydia gasped in pleasant surprise but returned the hug happily. She had never been shy about hugging Beetlejuice from time to time but it wasn't so often that Beetlejuice was the one to initiate affection towards her. She giggled and hugged him back, feeling as though a tremendous weight had been lifted from her heart.

"You'll always be my best friend B.J.," she said sincerely.

"I'm holdin' ya to that Babes!" he said gleefully and released her from his arms, his whole demeanor now back to his usual exuberant self. "So, what say you and me hop on over to my side of town and catch a movie? That new one just came out and it looks like a real _scream_!" he said, his head spinning enthusiastically as he screamed. Lydia laughed as Beetlejuice caught his head to stop it from spinning, grinning. Her laugh was like music to his ears and he knew that move got her every time.

"Which one? What's it called?" she inquired.

"Zombie Apes From Planet Banana," he answered and she nodded eagerly. "Okay, sounds like fun!" she agreed. "Then just lay them magic B words on me Babes and leave the rest to your favorite Neitherworld resident ghost! Just gotta make a quick stop for somethin' at the roadhouse if ya don't mind," he winked at her. "Not at all," she responded and began the familiar chant.

"Though I know I should be wary, still I venture someplace scary. Ghostly hauntings I turn loose," she spoke aloud and looked to him with a wide smile. "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, BEETLEJUICE!"

And in a flash, they were headed out the door that lead from her world to the Neitherworld and headed to his roadhouse. Upon arriving, Lydia let out a small yelp in surprise. The little thought balloons were _still_ running wild and Beetlejuice grimaced. "Don't...mind those little buggers," he said, shooting one of the running thoughts a vicious look and went after it, kicking at it until it's cloud dispersed and it was gone.

"One moment Babes," he leaned towards her and issued her a cheesy, embarassed grin, chuckling nervously. He then turned back towards the various thoughts and glared and in a poof of smoke, he was suddenly a giant broom and he dusted after them with vigor, gradually dispersing them all before Lydia even got a good look at them.

Once he was done, he resumed his normal form and hot footed it over to his bed so fast that he was a blur. Lydia watched in curiousity as he ran there, grabbed something off his bed side table and then ran back to her with a huge smile plastered on his face. He then proudly held out his left hand and what Lydia saw melted her heart completely.

He was wearing the ring she had gotten him and in her opinion, it suited him perfectly. There was something indescribably charming and almost boyish about how anxious and proud he was to show her the ring. "Aww, you're wearing it! Do you really like it...?" she looked up at him curiously and he gave a mighty snort. "LIKE IT? It's probably the best thing anyone has ever given me in this life or my other Lyds!" Lydia giggled appreciatively and held up her own ring. "Ditto Beej," she agreed fondly.

"Now, get ready Lyds! We gotta make up for yesterday after all," he smiled slyly in her direction and snapped his fingers and in an instant, he was re-dressed in a blood-red shirt that appeared to be made of satin though it was littered with small stains here and there. Over the shirt was a black vest that was wrinkled and was buttoned askew. For pants he wore black slacks that were spotted with patches of dust and dirt. His normally wild, dirty blonde hair was slicked back against his head. Lydia smiled and put a hand to her mouth to stiffle a chuckle and just shook her head. "My my," she said playfully, "You clean up well!"

Beetlejuice snorted in disgust then gripped the sides of his vest, proudly. "PUH-LEEASE Babes. I haven't washed this little number in at least two hundred years. It's... _vintage."_

"Of course!" Lydia said, unable to contain her giggles. Good, old B.J. Some things with him would never change.

He then snapped his two fingers, aimed a finger at her and fired a zap of his magic in her direction.

"Huh?" she said, jumping a little, taken aback as the magic surrounded her. She shivered as she felt something move along her entire body and for a split second she yelped in surprise at the unusual feeling but when the smoke cleared, she gasped.

"No _**WAY**_! Deadly vu Beej!" she said, arms stretched out as she spun herself around, admiring her new dress that had appeared on her body. It was a variant of her spider poncho except mostly black and the material was a satin-like fabric that felt to die for against her skin. It hugged her figure and had thin black straps that went over her shoulders. The dress came down her body, hugging her legs like a mermaid tail, the bottom floor of the dress looking like a spider's web complete with a slight, little train off the back. The red flowed up both sides of her hips like a river of blood and swooped behind her, around her waist until they ended at the lower back of her dress. On her arms were long, elbow high black gloves. Her hair was twisted upwards into an elaborate up-do and was pinned in place, just so with a black rose barrette.

Beetlejuice's eyes bugged out a bit as he caught himself beginning to stare. Admittedly, she looked like a piece of art in that dress and something within him found the overall view beyond pleasing. He had intended to make her look good but she looked down right _amazing_. He shook his head before she could catch him staring. "Yeah," he snorted and gripped the sides of his dusty tux and hoisted his chin up into the air, a smug look on his face. "I really out did myself, didn't I? I mean, it would have looked much better on me but you know," he teased, grinning at her as he leaned over.

Lydia shot him a modest look and smiled, shaking her head once more. He hooked his arm out in her direction and with a snooty accent said, "Shall we m'dear...?"

"Oh! CERTAINLY we shall," Lydia responded in the same snooty tone.

Lydia hooked her arm within his and then let her perplexity take over. "Really though Beej, isn't this a bit much for just going out to the movies?"

"Who said it was JUST goin' to be the movies Babes?" he said, his wicked grin spreading. "I owe you big time to make up for bein' such a dunce yesterday," he said and briefly transformed into a dunce cap before phasing back, his arm still linked with her own. "No scams, no pranks," he vowed then under his breath said, "Well, maybe just one itsy, bitsy, teeny one, maybe," he whispered to himself as he chuckled. "Just you havin' some quality time with the B-guy," he said, his free hand jerking his thumb into his chest.

"Now, just follow me m'lady. The night is but young and we have places to go, people to freak and beetles to crunch," he said, acting completely dignified and Lydia grimaced. "Sounds great but uh...I'll pass on that last part," she said with an apologetic smile towards him and arm-in-arm, the pair left the roadhouse.

 **Elsewhere**

Unbeknownst to the pair, someone, somewhere had been watching them very closely from the moment they had arrived in the Neitherworld. Presently, a pair of dark green eyes penetrated an unknown darkness and watched over a black marble bowl of black water. Upon the water's surface, Beetlejuice and Lydia were busy enjoying their outing. The eyes watched as Beetlejuice was presently trying to complain to the waiter at a fancy restaurant that there was NO fly in his soup and was beginning to make a scene as Lydia had a hand to her face.

"Enjoy your time together while it lasts," the voice spoke calmly. It had been so patient for so many years. It could wait a while longer, let the pair have their fun. Soon it's patience would pay off greatly and no one, not even the self-titled "ghost with the most", would be able to stop it.

Soon, with Beetlejuice's help, it would have Lydia Deetz in it's grasp and then the worlds would be open to it's any whim and desire.

But for now, it could be patient.

For now, it would wait.

 **Author's Note** : Quick note here, I know "Will" is Beetlejuice's will power but I'm not sure if the cartoon ever touched on his conscience, the whole right and wrong/little voices in your head that tell you what's wrong and what's right. I consider your conscience different from your willpower so for the sake of the story, that was B.J.'s conscience. I figured it'd be fun to make the "Devil" look like his old, wedding self from the movie xD

Also, worth noting, Lydia is in high school now so she attends a general high school which means both boys and girls. I'll mention it a bit more in one of the later chapters but just wanted to get that out there in case anyone was wondering how she became friends with Nicholas/a guy.


	4. Chapter 4 - An Offer Too Good to Resist

**Author's note:**

I apologize for the excessive dialogue/less action in the first few chapters. The little rift between B.J. And Lyds will play a huge part in this story later on. It set up some conflict that will be touched on later. But for now, this chapter is going to be setting up the meat of this story. I hope you like it!

Tremendous shout out and thank you to PyroFoxForever for being first review and leaving such kind words! Also, huge thank you to the folks following this little story of mine. I hope you all end up loving it : ]

Disclaimer: I obviously own NOTHING. NOOOTHING. All characters are property of their respective owner(s) (namely Mr. Tim Burton)

 **The End of An Eternity**

Chapter Four – An Offer Too Good To Resist

About a month had passed since Beetlejuice and Lydia's anniversary and things were pretty much back to normal. Or at least as normal as things could be when you were a sixteen year old who regularly travelled between the world of the living and the dead and had a manic poltergeist as a best friend.

The weekend was officially upon Lydia. She had just finished her lunch, quickly had bid her parents goodbye as they had headed out the front door and she was finally ready to meet Beetlejuice over in the Neitherworld. She spoke the three magic words and in the blink of an eye, she found herself opening the door that connected her world with the Neitherworld, heading down the short road that led to her best friend's familiar road house. She pulled on the bone handle that was the front door's handle and gave it a slight tug, peeking inside.

"Beej?" she asked, not initially seeing him anywhere in her sights. She stepped inside hesitantly, always feeling a little trepidation about entering his roadhouse when he wasn't around though he himself had, on multiple occasions, told her that she was always welcome to do so.

"In here Lyds!" he called from the bathroom, the door being wide open. Lydia headed over and cautiously peered around the corner into the bathroom. "What are you doing?" she asked, taking notice that he was facing the mirror, his back to the doorway.

He turned with a pair of teeth in his outstretched hand and a brush in the other. "Brushin' the ol' chompers," he said with a crooked grin, his own teeth still very much riddled with grime and a not-so-subtle shade of green. However, the pair of chipped, yellowy teeth in his open palmed hand gave a contented chatter as if to greet Lydia.

Lydia glanced to the edge of the dingy sink where she saw a tube marked, "Uncouth Paste" and she couldn't help but smile ever so slightly as she stepped into the doorway. She clasped her hands behind her back and gave a subtle but sly smile as she began to rock on her feet back and forth. "Good news Beej, we have the whole weekend together! My parents told me this morning that they were going to be headed out of town for a couples retreat," she explained.

Beetlejuice allowed the chattering teeth to jump from his hand and he threw the brush down in the sink as he hopped over to Lydia's side. "Couples retreat, eh Babes? Oooooo I love it when couples retreat. I can't staaaaaaaand all that mushy romance junk. The further they retreat from me, the better," he said making a disgusted face and cringing.

"It's not _that_ kind of retreat," she corrected him with a little giggle. "Anyway, I have the house to myself for the weekend and you know what _that_ means," she said, leaning towards him with an excitedly suggestive smile that she just couldn't fight back any longer.

Beetlejuice's eyes literally lit up like headlights and at the same time they both yelled in unison, "SCARY MOVIE SLUMBER PARTY!" There had only been about three other times in the past that Lydia's parents had left her on her own, alone in the house for any length longer than a day on account of her being too young in the past. Now that she was older, they had grown more comfortable with the idea of doing so and in those times, Lydia had invited her best friend over for a sleep over. While perhaps it _was_ slightly unconventional and could be considered, to some, as inappropriate to have an older male ghost stay in the room of a young, vulnerable, teenaged girl, Lydia trusted Beetlejuice without question. He had never, ever attempted anything salacious or insidious towards her since the wedding ordeal, though she knew that he still very much had it in his nature to be that way.

Beetlejuice flew past her excitedly and in the blink of an eye, he was in his room with a travel bag now sitting open upon his coffin bed Lydia was almost certain that she saw him throw in a blender and a chainsaw in along with pajamas and various other articles of clothing.

"We can watch some of the classics," she began, feeling her excitement grow as she began listing off titles using her fingers. "There's Nosferatu and Dracula and... Oh! The Wolfman!"

"We can play Hide and Go Sneak!" Beetlejuice said, jumping on the bag and attempting to push the contents down so that he could zip it up.

"And make creepy creature themed cookies," Lydia suggested, walking over and helping Beetlejuice close the bag by pushing down on it. Finally it snapped close. "Maybe I could even invite Bertha and Prudence to come," she mused.

"Lyds... _please_ not those two sticks in the mud!" he whined and turned into a wooden stick sinking into the mud. Lydia quickly pulled him out and he transformed back into his normal self. He then seemed to be considering something for a moment then all of a sudden, a darkness fell upon his face and he began wringing his hands together in ghoulish glee. "On second thought, think of all the good pranks I could pull on ol' Burp and Prune all night long!"

Lydia's eyes widened and she held up her hands, waving them in wide protest. "ON SECOND THOUGHT," she began loudly, echoing his earlier words. "Maybe some quality time together, just you and I, might be more fun," she added, hoping that prospect would draw his attention away from the idea of pranking her two friends.

Suddenly he had an arm around her shoulders and was hugging her to him against his side, but not as himself. Instead, he had now become his young female alter ego Betty Juice. "But Lydia!" he began in a falsetto voice. "Betty would just looooooove a girl's night slumber party!"

Lydia eyed him from the corner of her eyes, easily reading his mind, "Uh huh, I bet she would," Lydia said flatly.

"We could girl talk and give each other makeovers!" Betty carried on and Lydia shook her head in a "no" fashion.

"If by the word 'make over' you mean replace Bertha's hair with snakes and Prudence's glasses with rotten tomatoes," she said knowingly. Beetlejuice turned back into his normal form and chuckled, pressing his cheek against Lydia's, "You know me _so_ well Babes!" And that she did. Truth be told, she had always known him to be surprisingly easily going when it came to Bertha and Prudence but that didn't mean that he wouldn't get his kicks in where he could by scaring or creeping out the two girls on occasions where the settings were right.

"C'mon, if we hurry we-" Lydia began but just as the words left her lips, she was rudely cut off by the sound of Beetlejuice's doorbell ringing. They both exchanged clueless looks as to who could be at the door and Beetlejuice scrunched his brow in irritation. "One moment Lyds," he said and floated over to the door, removing his arm from around her shoulders.

Upon opening the door, Beetlejuice was greeted by the mailman who held a hand up and gave a short wave as a greeting accompanied with a wide-spread, toothy smile. "Hiya Beetlejuice! Lovely day we're having today, wouldn't you say?" the mailman greeted cheerily. Beetlejuice curled his lip immediately at the word "lovely".

"I would _never_ say that word," he answered with disdainful sincerity and the mailman gave a hearty laugh, apparently thinking that Beetlejuice had been joking, which only served to irritate Beetlejuice further. "Say, you got somethin' for me or are ya just goin' to sit here and gross me out some more?" Beetlejuice leered as he leaned against the doorway, arms crossed and his foot tapping in a slow, intimidating manner, mentally hoping that the overly cheery mailman would take a hint.

"Of course!" the mailman responded pleasantly and withdrew two envelopes and a rolled up magazine from behind his back and extended all three to Beetlejuice. "Here ya go Mr. Juice!"

Beetlejuice swiped the mail from his hand.

"That'd be all there is today. You have yourself a nice day, all right?"

Beetlejuice grimaced at the word "nice", fighting off a strong urge to gag. What was it with this guy?! "I think I'd sooner swear off beetles before I ever did somethin' THAT disgusting," he retorted and slammed the door in the mailman's face.

"Whatcha got there Beej?" Lydia asked, walking over and glancing curiously towards the mail in his hands.

"I dunno, let's see here," he said and unrolled the magazine and promptly screamed a high pitched screech of pure, unbridled terror.

Lydia read the title aloud, standing besides him, "Bath Lovers Weekly...?" and no sooner than she had said the words out loud did Beetlejuice hold the magazine out far in front of him, pinched barely between two fingers, like it was some sort of diseased thing that could actually harm him.

"YEEEEEEEUUUUUCCCCK!" he screamed and then glared daggers at the magazine. "If she signs me up for _one more_ magazine subscription like this so _**HELP ME**_!" he roared and then dramatically flung the magazine onto the floor as he snapped his red tipped fingers and the pair watched as the magazine promptly burst into a fury of flames. Lydia fought off a laugh as she watched B.J. As he flew over to the magazine and angrily began to stomp on it until the flames were completely extinguished. It was now nothing more than a smoldering pile of ashes. He then proceeded to leap back and pointed his finger at it and heatedly yelled, " _ **NOW TAKE A HIKE**_!" The pile of ashes promptly grew a small pair of legs and hiking shoes. It also sprouted an arm and hand and it saluted him then headed for the door, swinging it open and then walking out, slamming the door shut once more.

Beetlejuice stood still, arms crossed, his facial features screwed up to convey complete agitation, his green eyes glittering with annoyance. Lydia re-joined him by his side and gently touched his upper arm in an effort to soothe him. "I take it that your mother has been sending you subtle hints through magazine subscriptions," she said, still trying her best to not laugh at his overly dramatic irritation but she couldn't prevent a sympathetic smile from sneaking across her lips.

"Lyds, it was _AWFUL_. The last one was...was...was," he gulped nervously. " **BRIGHT WHITE SMILES ILLUSTRATED**!" he screamed before turning green completely and acting like he was about to keel over and vomit.

"Terrible," Lydia said sarcastically but apparently Beetlejuice did not pick up on the sarcasm as he slumped and responded with, "I know..."

"What else did you get?" she asked, trying to change the subject in an effort to help him recover. Beetlejuice took the second envelope, still somewhat shaken, and ripped it open with his thumb from the top. He then tipped the envelope upside down and Lydia gasped in surprise as it rained scrap metal assortments, springs, bolts and old rusted nails. Beetlejuice snorted and smirked, "Junk mail...you know _I_ hate it"

With that, he moved onto the final envelope but paused before opening it. "Huh?" he asked, perplexed.

"What's the matter?" Lydia responded.

"Dunno who sent it. Here, look," he said, handing her the envelope and pointing to it's front. Sure enough, the envelope was a plain, off-white envelope with the words, "To Beetlejuice" printed on the front. Nothing more. No sender address and no other indication of where the letter came from. Lydia turned the envelope over in her hands and found nothing.

Lydia handed him the envelope back accompanied with a small shrug of her shoulders. "That's odd. Open it, let's see what's inside!" she said eagerly and Beetlejuice complied, ripping it open just as he had the previous envelope. He pulled out a letter and read it quietly for a long moment then Lydia watched as his tongue hit the floor like a lead weight and he began to drool like a dog. His eyes turned to dollar signs and Lydia groaned instinctively.

She yanked the letter from his hands as he sat and drooled, a puddle rapidly forming beneath him, and read it aloud.

"Dear Mr. Juice, I have a once in a life and death time proposition for you, if you would be interested. I'll make this brief and to the point - I am willing to pay you a lump sum of one thousand dollars should you be accept my proposal. Here is a check for one hundred dollars up front just for your time that you invested into reading this as well as to prove that I'm indeed quite serious. If you are interested in claiming the remaining nine hundred then I will need you to visit a secluded and very private island. On that island is a rare gem from a series of rare gems that I'm seeking to procure for personal matters. I feel that I must warn you though, the gem is guarded fiercely and will not be easy to obtain but I'm certain that this will be an easy task for the Neitherworld's ghost with the most. That is why I wish to employ you. I've heard of your exploits and I'm certain that there is no one else who would be more better suited for this job. If you are interested, please show up tomorrow at high noon to the Neitherworld downtown docks. There will be a private boat to take you to the island and my personal assistant will be there to assist you. Further directions will be given to you once you board the boat. You are welcome to bring your friend Lydia along if you so choose seeing as you may need all the help you can get in this endeavor. If you are not interested, take the money as a gesture of good will and I bid you farewell. I leave the choice entirely in your hands. Thank you for your consideration. Signed...I," Lydia finished reading, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "I? There's no name, just … the letter 'I'?"

"I as in, ' _ **I**_ don't care just gimme the money!' What are the odds Lyds?!" Beetlejuice prattled on excitedly, waving his arms enthusiastically like a fangirl who had just seen her celebrity crush in the flesh.

"Exactly Beej," Lydia said, giving him a stern but worried look. "What _ARE_ the odds? This letter is awfully vague, don't you think? I mean, no name, no return address, no notice of where this 'island' is and why doesn't this 'I' person just go get the gem themselves?" she questioned.

"Because Babes! Ya read the letter, they want the best of _thee_ best," he beamed proudly, holding the lapels of his suit jacket, chin hoisted high into the air in a proud manner.

"Well then how did they know about ME?" Lydia pressed him.

"I dunno," he said shrugging. "It ain't exactly a secret around here after four years that we pal around together, ya know?" he suggested. Lydia was presently out of arguments but she still had a bad feeling about the letter.

"Beeeeesides!" Beetlejuice said and floated to her side, smiling all too sweetly at her, batting his eyes. "It said you could tag along. So, if you're _that_ worried about me then come along and keep an eye on me!" he said slyly and his right eye popped out of it's socket and landed on his shoulder as he hovered beside her, his hands placed under his chin as he attempted to give her a puppy dog look but it looked extremely odd with only one eye in his sockets.

"I don't know Beej," Lydia said honestly, trying to fix him with her best look of concern and worry, somehow knowing that it would do little to sway him.

"C'moooooon Babes, don't make me beg!" he pleaded, his eye now back in it's socket as he floated behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder and whimpered. Lydia sighed, defeated, and turned to look at him. "All right, _all right_ , I'll go with you," she caved.

He immediately threw his arms up to cheer but Lydia interjected quickly and loudly, "BUT!"

He froze, mid celebration, arms still held in the air. "What butt? This one?" he said and turned and posed, his rear stuck out slightly.

"I'll _only_ go with you if we still keep our plans for this weekend and work them in AND so long as you promise me that we'll work to dig up more answers by asking plenty of questions when we get on that boat. If they don't answer our questions or if we don't get more information then we call the whole thing off," she said seriously, her brown eyes locking onto his, no trace of joking in her voice.

"What if this is a 'no questions asked' type o' deal Lyds?" Beetlejuice posed the question and Lydia responded with a stern glare, "Then the deal is off. Please Beej, promise me," she pleaded desperately then took it a step farther and approached him, taking his hands in her own. The semi-intimate gesture caught Beetlejuice off guard and he swallowed nervously, looking into her eyes.

"I can't really explain it but I just have a _really_ bad feeling about this and so, I want you you to promise me that if we can't get enough answers that I can count on you to call it off. I don't want to see you hurt or arrested or trapped or anything like that," she explained, trying to put genuine concern into her words and Beetlejuice found that he was smiling warmly, truly touched by her apparent concern for his well being but not about to admit it out loud.

"Lyds," he began and the smile morphed into a foxy grin as he squeezed her hands, his eyes narrowed in her direction playfully. "Are you... _WORRIED_ about little, ol' _ME_?" he teased. Lydia blushed profusely and she became momentarily flustered and then shot him a look of irritation, dropping his hands from hers like they were hot embers. "And so what if I am?" she asked defensively, crossing her arms. "It's not like in the four years that we've known each other that you **don't** have a track record of making really bad choices in the pursuit of fast cash Beetlejuice," she chided him.

Beetlejuice snort-chuckled, just enjoying the look of indignation on Lydia's face for the moment being. "You were worried about me," he teased again, still smiling like he had uncovered some dirty secret of hers though the look was mixed with his own brand of fondness.

"B.J. just promise me already!" she yelled, steadily losing patience, still blushing a little.

Beetlejuice just smiled and held his hands up to show her that his fingers weren't crossed, "Okay, okay I prooooomiiiissseee," he conceded.

"I'm holding you to that Beetlejuice," Lydia warned him.

"Well, then why don't ya put those arms of yours around me and really HOLD me to it Babes. While you're at it, you can tell me some more about how you _worry_ about me," he said, grinning and leaned in towards her, relishing in how flustered he could make his best friend at the moment. It wasn't often that he teased or scared Lydia but when he did, he took a different joy in it than the joy he got from scaring anyone else.

"Oh shut up and get your things!" she said, turning her back to him and already making a mental note to never, _ever_ let him in on the little fact that she worried about him _ever_ again. She heard him cackle in enjoyment and she frowned to herself as he floated to his bed to retrieve his bag. She sincerely hoped that Beetlejuice would stick to his promise because she knew better than anyone how large sums of money seemed to have the funny power to make him go back on his word.

"All ready Babes! From here, it's just you and me and the night!" he said with an excited grin. Lydia forced a smile, trying her best to put the bad feeling out of her head and just enjoy the night that they had planned together. She followed him to the front door as he held it open for her and together they headed for the door that would return them both to the living world.

She had a final, nagging thought that perhaps, maybe, _this_ was the calm before the storm. Why exactly she felt that way, she had no real idea why and couldn't really explain it but the feeling was there all the same. With that final, lovely, little thought, the pair departed the Neitherworld and Lydia became very determined to try and not dwell on it further.

 **Author's Note:**

Nothing much to say here other than I wish everyone a safe, happy and spooky Halloween (just in case I don't get the next chapter up before then). Happy Scarin' !


	5. Chapter 5 - Realizations and Strange

**Author's note:**

Well, it's been a while since I posted a chapter and I apologize. With the holidays things just got so crazy for me (as they do for most people). I hope everyone reading had a fantastic Halloween and if you're in the US, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Big shout out to Minastara for the wonderfully kind review, it's so appreciated :) Also in order is a tremendous thank you to everyone still reading and following this story.

This chapter was originally meant to be one really long chapter but I decided, last minute to split it up. So, as a result, the next chapter will be a bit on the shorter side.

Disclaimer: I obviously own NOTHING. NOOOTHING. All characters are property of their respective owner(s) (namely Mr. Tim Burton)

 **The End of An Eternity**

Chapter Five – Realizations and Strange Feelings

There was a soft pop of air as Lydia and Beetlejuice appeared back within the familiar walls of Lydia's room. Lydia released Beetlejuice's hand and walked to the window, pushing aside her curtain to glance outside her window. She was greeted with a dark sky and stars that twinkled as if to greet her.

" _Perfect_! It's dark out! That means we can start watching one of the movies I mentioned. I'll head downstairs and pop some popcorn for us!" Lydia said excitedly but Beetlejuice held up a single hand as if to stop her train of thought.

"No need Babes! I packed some snacks," Beetlejuice said rather proudly and heaved his over-night bag onto her bed and unzipped it. He plunged his hand inside and after some vigorous rummaging, he withdrew what appeared to be a sticky bug trap that was over loaded with beetles, flies and other various insects. Lydia grimaced, wincing a little as she felt a small stab of sympathy for the caught bugs.

"I've had this puppy under my bed for a while now. I was just lettin' it get nice and full for an occasion such as this," he said with a grin and tugged a bug off of the paper and tossed it into his open, waiting mouth.

Lydia flinched, her eyes shut tight, as was the norm when she watched her friend scarf down insects. A few small moments passed as she anticipated the tell tale nasty crunch sound that signaled that it was safe to look but oddly enough, the sound never came.

"Hey! Where'd it go?!" Beetlejuice cried, patting himself and his suit down in a panic and glancing around the room frantically. Lydia opened her eyes just in time to see the poor insect scurry under the crack of her closed bedroom door in an attempt to flee it's predator.

"After that bug!" Beetlejuice pointed and yelled as he quickly turned into a blood hound and ran to her door and began pawing anxiously at it. He tossed his head back and gave a long, soulful howl and then pointed his nose towards the bottom of the door, in the direction of the escapee. Lydia rolled her eyes and fought the urge to smile at his antics. "It opens you know," she said, grabbing the door handle and opening the door for the over enthusiastic ghost. As she did, Beetlejuice began wildly howling and gave immediate chase, barreling down the hall and turning the corner towards her parents empty bedroom. Lydia's eyes widened as she saw where he was headed, "Beej WAIT!" she cried out in protest, running after him in hot pursuit.

Beetlejuice, now back in his normal form, kicked the flimsy door wide open and made a mad dive, grabbing for the fearful bug. He landed hard, just a few inches shy from the terrified bug and his tongue promptly shot out and snatched his prey off the floor and pulled it into his hungry mouth. Then came the sickening crunch that Lydia had tried to brace herself for moments ago. After he had licked his lips, he stood up and pulled out a handkerchief, dabbing at the corners of his mouth with a wide, pleased smile.

"Okay, okay, you got it. Now, c'mon Beej. I doubt that my mom and dad would appreciate either of us being in their room," she said and gently grabbed his arm, attempting to tug him from the room but the ghost remained still and would not budge.

"Lyds, what...is _that_?" he said, pointing to the bed with a screwed up look upon his features that was a mix of disgust and intrigue. Laying right in the middle of the bed was some skimpy lingerie that was adorned in pink frills aplenty and had soft, fluffy, pink fuzz poking out around it's more intimate areas. It looked as if about ten rabbits had been killed just to make it. Beetlejuice poofed out of Lydia's grasp and reappeared a moment later, wearing the lingerie and _only_ the lingerie with a twisted grin. "Boy does Delia have a freaky-side or _what_?!" Lydia's mouth fell wide open and she immediately slapped her hands over her eyes, turning an obnoxiously bright shade of red. " **BEETLEJUICE**! **Take that off** _ **RIGHT NOW**_!"

Beetlejuice appeared beside Lydia, leaning into his clearly uncomfortable friend and he fixed her with a very playful, toothy grin. It was always so much fun to make her squirm and it wasn't often that he could so when the opportunity presented itself, he never passed it up. "What's wrong Lyds? Not my color?"

" **That** and among twenty other things wrong with this picture!" she said, hands still clasped firmly over her eyes. Then to Lydia's complete surprise, he did something that she was not prepared for in any way, shape or form. "But you're blushin' Babes," he whispered right into her ear and his cold breath, being so close to her skin, sent shivers down her spine but not in an entirely uncomfortable way. She responded in turn with her face beaming all the more red, so much so that she wondered if she'd begin to perspire.

Beetlejuice chuckled deviously as he moved away from her and floated onto the bed, laying on his side, propping a hand up on the side of his head and posing. "C'mon Lyds! Draw me like one of your french boys," he snickered and Lydia groaned loudly. "Beej," she said with all the calm that she could muster up, her hand still blocking her view of him. "You...have... _exactly_ three seconds to get out of that... _THING_ and join me downstairs to make some snacks with me or so help me, I'm calling this whole thing off and sending you back to the Neitherworld," she warned with no trace of joking in her voice.

"Aww, you're no fun! You're just jealous that I look better in it than you would," Beetlejuice teased innocently and Lydia scoffed, rolling her eyes from behind her hands. "Hardly and besides, there's no way in this world or the next that I would I be caught dead in something like...like _that_ ," she said, making a face and dropping one hand to point in his direction though she was sure to still keep her eyes clenched shut.

"Not like me, huh Babes?" he said with a smirk and transformed back into his old clothes, smiling fondly at Lydia, thoroughly enjoying how flustered he'd made her.

" _Please_ tell me it's safe to look now," Lydia pleaded, slowly opening one eye and peeking out from between the fingers of her one hand and breathing a tremendous sigh of relief when she saw him back in his normal striped suit. "Don't act like you didn't sneak a peek," Beetlejuice teased her, shooting her a sly look.

"You. Kitchen. With me. **NOW** ," Lydia demanded grabbing the wrist cuff of his suit coat and tugging him along with her out of her parents' bed room. She briefly cast a look back at the lingerie on the bed as she exited and she couldn't keep from shuddering. She made a mental note to herself to throw the lingerie out before Delia got home. It was bad enough picturing her mom in such an ensemble but to picture her wearing it _after_ it had been on Beetlejuice was cringe inducing.

From there, the night went on almost exactly as they had planned and Lydia and Beetlejuice had managed to watch The Wolfman and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Beetlejuice had even re-enacted Tina's death scene, dramatically squirming around on her ceiling dressed as Betty. This had made Lydia laugh endlessly to see Beetlejuice flailing around, screaming like a teenaged horror movie victim.

They then had then put on Bram Stoker's Dracula but halfway through Beetlejuice got distracted (as tended to happen with him) and had issued a challenge to Lydia that had ended in a full blown popcorn fight. It had began innocently enough, with Beetlejuice trying to throw popcorn kernels into Lydia's mouth to see how many she could catch. When it had been Beetlejuice's turn, Lydia only got a few kernels in before he had begun cheating by using his tongue to snag each one from the air as she threw them, not unlike a frog catching flies. She had retaliated by throwing a handful of kernels at him and having not expected so many at once, they had showered down onto his face and into his hair. One thing had quickly led to another and soon hand after hand was being thrown (in Beetlejuice's case, multiple hands) and then Beetlejuice had upped the ante and produced a popcorn cannon and by the end, Lydia's floor was a sea of popcorn that went up to her waist.

Beetlejuice had aided in cleaning up by transforming himself into an over-sized vacuum and sucking all of the remaining popcorn up. That had brought the two of them to the present. At the moment, the pair was laying on Lydia's bed, side by side, casually, on their backs, watching the remainder of the movie.

"Y'know Lyds," Beetlejuice remarked thoughtfully as he stared at the television screen, "That actress? The one playing...what's-her-name? Drac's main squeeze?"

"You mean Mina?" Lydia offered helpfully, her eyes feeling suddenly quite heavy and she produced a giant yawn.

"Yeah, that's the one. Well, she kinda looks like you Babes!" Beetlejuice said, glancing sideways at her with a big grin.

"You think...? I dunno Beej," she murmured, considering it briefly but it was becoming harder and harder to fight her eyes from closing and to fend off sleep. Her thoughts were equally as lazy and hazy. "She's a lot prettier than I am," Lydia admitted, finally giving in and allowing her eyes to close.

Beetlejuice snorted in response as he immediately considered her statement to be completely ridiculous and without thinking, he blurted out, "No one is prettier than you Lyds. At least not in my book," he said casually then his whole body went rigid as he immediately realized how that could have sounded and more over, what it could have implied. "I mean, I don't _do_ 'pretty' anyway so hell, what do I know?" he covered for himself but she didn't respond to him. He winced a little, momentarily nervous that she had caught his verbal slip. He hesitantly glanced over at her, fully expecting to have to explain his last statement. To his surprise, Lydia was fast asleep, completely unaware of the conversation.

On the floor besides the bed, he had earlier rolled out his sleeping bag, fully intending to use it as he had in times past. However, it was now happily snoring away and he just didn't have the heart, or want, to wake Lydia in order to reach it. He glanced quickly at the second of his three wrist watches and realized that somehow the time had just flown by even quicker than it did in the Neitherworld, or so it seemed to him anyway. It was already thirty minutes past twelve.

Beetlejuice peeked back over at his sleeping friend, watching her and as he did, thoughts of all kinds were beginning to creep into his mind. He took a moment to look her over closely and suddenly he found himself feeling strangely, uncommonly, warm and almost nostalgic inside. How had she grown up so fast on him? How had he not noticed it until only recently? As he looked her over he noticed that sure enough, her child-like features had grown more refined and more adult-like. Her face, though she had never been chubby, had lost a lot of it's baby fat and had become more womanly and dare he say, beautiful (a word that he rarely enjoyed using). Her lips had become slightly more full, her top lip still being slightly thinner than her bottom.

It was then, for some reason not immediately known to him that Beetlejuice was suddenly very nervous and something hit home inside of his dead, non-beating heart at that very moment.

Lydia wasn't a little girl anymore. It took him a minute to let that fact sink in and even then, it still didn't seem like it ought to be true but it was.

She was more on the verge of being a woman now. In only a couple more months, she'd be seventeen. At first, it had been all too easy for him to simply view her as just some lonely kid who sorely needed a friend and some special guidance that only he could give. Then, gradually she had grown to be a kid whom he adored almost as if she were his own in some odd way. He'd protected her on many occasions and more than that, whenever she was down, he'd always, always made it a personal priority to try and make her smile again. He'd watch her grow in so many ways from a sullen, mopey little goth girl to a confident, bright and slightly mischievous one. A girl who had somehow become his very best friend and partner in crime. Admittedly, Beetlejuice had always scoffed at the age factor between them and had never really lent it much thought. Age was just a number once you were dead. Besides that, on many occasions Lydia had always acted beyond her years in terms of intelligence and personality and he knew that he wasn't the only one who thought that of her. She was constantly impressing Jacques and Ginger with her knowledge of certain things, her wit and her charm and her knack to always be counted upon to help him clean up his messes when his scams or pranks backfired was almost uncanny. She could also almost always keep up with him in his endeavors and that in and of itself was not easy for anyone to do, living or dead.

But looking at her now, something felt...different. It wasn't simply that she looked older but rather it was more what looking at his aged friend was doing to his feelings at present and he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about having feelings of this sort for her.

His thoughts were temporarily interrupted as Lydia turned towards him and one of her arms fell across his chest and she snuggled into him as if he were a pillow, her body pressed into his side snuggly.

Beetlejuice stiffened nervously and went deathly (literally) still, glancing around the room nervously and wondering what exactly was the thing to do in this situation? If this had been any other good looking woman or ghoul, he'd have already had his hands all over her taking full advantage of the situation but this _wasn't_ just any other woman or girl. This was his best friend. However, if he was being honest (and he hated doing so), his thoughts at that moment were not completely innocent, friend or not. He began desperately trying to push _those_ thoughts to the dark recesses of his mind. He reached up and pulled at the collar of his shirt and swallowed hard.

" _I can't think of Lyds like that_!" he screamed mentally in full blown panic mode.

" _Watch me_ ," his brain answered in reply and Beetlejuice lightly shook his head to silence his mind and clear away the unwelcome thoughts that threatened to creep back in.

He then glanced back to Lydia and began to watch her sleep once more, gradually loosening up.

The first thing he noticed was how warm she felt next to him. He'd always felt it when she hugged him or touched him but now the sensation was so much stronger and ten times more potent. As a ghost, he didn't feel much usually. Drop anything heavy on his him and sure, it hurt, sort of, in a weird indescribable way that was beyond a living being's understanding but not in the same way that living human beings felt pain. When a person died, funny things happened to their senses. Eyesight, sense of sound and smell always became keener and sharper than when you had been alive but as far as the sense of touch and taste went, those were different stories altogether. It was as if a heavy blanket was placed on both of those senses and they were dulled significantly almost to the point of non-existence. For Beetlejuice, when he'd touch things, it always felt like a sort of numbness. He could feel the heaviness and solidness of an object but as far as really _feeling_ it, it just didn't happen for him. The same went for touching other ghosts. When he'd touch other ghosts, it was almost like a very brief spark of static shock and then just the same old nothing again. He couldn't even feel the cold that most humans claimed that they felt when ghosts were near them. That was the real kicker of kicking the bucket and it was what drove so many ghosts and spirits to dark, evil places. The loss of the sense of touch, of feeling, was completely maddening. It had been even for him for a long, long, long time until...

He stared at Lydia thoughtfully.

As a ghost, touching people of the living realm who were still alive, like Lydia, was a completely different story.

Whenever Lydia hugged him or held his hand, he felt it like a jolt of high voltage energy coursing through his dead veins. It was so much stronger than it was when he would touch another ghost and it lasted unlike touching other ghosts. It also felt warm. Not scorching or uncomfortable heat but pleasantly warm and when touching a living person, for a moment, it was almost as if he could feel again. To him, Lydia felt warm and inviting. Any time she touched him, he could immediately feel her pulse, the steady beat of her heart through her skin. Now, cuddled so close beside him, it was all the more apparent and intoxicating. The soft, steady rhythm of her heart beat into his side as she slept. He could also feel the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, something that had not been necessary for him to do for who knows how long. He himself, couldn't even remember being alive and needing to breathe for the most part.

He then quietly chuckled to himself, despite all of his other thoughts. He noticed that she had her face snuggled against his chest and it then occurred to him that if she had been awake and fully conscious then she may have not wanted to be quite as close to him as she was (given his potent aroma) but at the moment, it didn't seem to be phasing her very much.

" _She must be_ _ **really**_ _tired_ ," he thought to himself and fought off the urge to laugh when he imagined her reaction in the morning. For now though, she just looked so peaceful as she slept. Normally, had this been anyone else, Beetlejuice would have reveled in the delight of scaring the pants off and disrupting anyone who seemed to be enjoying such a sense of tranquility. Normally, he hated tranquility and peace and quiet but with Lydia, watching her sleep, it had often been different and evoked different feelings in him. He actually enjoyed seeing the look of peace and calm on her face, not that he'd ever admit it to anyone. Of course, this wasn't the first time he'd watch her sleep. A couple of times in the past he'd have appeared in her mirror, hoping to greet her in the morning but since time flowed differently in the Neitherworld, sometimes it was hit or miss and on a rare occasion, he'd catch her sleeping. Then there had been times when they had gone camping together and shared the same tent and she'd pass out before him.

This time though, it was different. Having her so close to him and asleep right besides him, it just _felt_ different but not necessarily in a bad way. He smirked to himself as he pulled the thin, dark-violet, satin covers up around them both to their waists. He wasn't typically one to "cuddle" and normally detested this kinda thing but with Lydia it just felt natural, like it wasn't any big deal and truth be told, he was happy to feel her warmth and the gentle beat of her heart. Hell, he actually was _enjoying_ it. He sighed helplessly and couldn't help but smile crookedly. " _I_ _'ve really become such a softy_ ," he thought and was tempted to transform himself into a pillow for her but didn't want to risk waking her. He carefully scooted his arm around her shoulders and hugged her ever so gently to him. Then, cautiously and very, very carefully so as not to wake her, he rested his chin against the top of her head. His other free arm came up and he placed his hand on the back of his head casually.

"G'night Babes," he said with a sincere smile and closed his own eyes, drifting off to sleep.

 **Morning**

"Err. Err. Err. Err. Err,"

Lydia groaned, her voice thick with sleep still as the alarm went off, alerting her that it was time to rise and shine. She gave a slow yawn and then smiled pleasantly, snuggling into her pillow, hugging it to her body in an effort to keep warm as a small little shiver went down her back. There was a small cool breeze that she could vaguely feel against her skin but even so she just felt so tremendously cozy, like she was being embraced. The feeling was beyond description. To call it "wonderful" was a severe under-statement. The alarm kept crying for her attention but Lydia just wanted to savor the comfort for a couple of minutes longer. " _Scream all you want Mr. Alarm, I'm not moving_ ," she thought lazily.

It was then that her sleep ridden brain could have sworn that she felt the covers hug her and draw her in closer. Gradually, her mind came into focus.

Aside from the obnoxious buzzing sound of the alarm, a soft snoring was also among the atmospheric noise that morning. Lydia slowly opened one eye and it took her a moment to focus but when she did, her body twitched ever so slightly in surprise and her face turned the color of pink roses as she blushed profusely.

She opened both eyes to make sure that what she was seeing wasn't a dream. It wasn't until she was fully awake that the smell assaulted her nose and she flinched a little. " _Not a dream! Definitely_ _ **not**_ _a dream_!" her brain screamed in a panic.

Sleeping besides her was her very best friend, still clad in his striped suit, presently still (literally) sawing some logs despite the alarm's loud, blaring sound. That wasn't the problem though. She had fallen asleep in Beetlejuice's presence before but not ever like _this_.

At present, one of his arms was wrapped tightly around her waist, keeping her held snugly against his body. His other arm was around her arms and then bent up at the elbow so that the back of her head rested gingerly against the palm of his hand. He held her close to him but not suffocatingly so. His embrace was surprisingly...tender? Gentle? And to her greater shock, she soon discovered that her own arms were around him as well, good and tight. If he had been alive and breathing, she would have been so close to him that she'd have been able to hear his heart beat.

Her cheeks burned something furious as she continued to blush, her mind frantically trying to figure out what to do.

" _What do I do?!_ "

" _Wake him!_ "

" _But this DOES...feel...kinda nice..._ "

" _NICE?! Oh no, no, no, no, no. This is_ _ **not**_ _okay for so many reasons! Nice or not!_ "

" _But_ -"

" _WAKE HIM!_ "

She glanced to his face and what she saw surprised her. Though he was softly snoring, mouth slightly ajar, he had a pleasant smile upon his face, dare she say, peaceful? The look on his face was oddly entrancing and for a moment, Lydia forgot the situation at hand and couldn't help but abandon her earlier panic as a smile tugged ever so slightly at the corners of her mouth.

" _I never thought I'd be saying this but...he does look rather...cute...sleeping like this,_ " she thought, giving into her smile as she watched him sleep, feeling a warm feeling inside her heart take over. She then had to fight the urge to giggle. If only Beetlejuice could have heard that last thought of hers, she knew that he'd have made a point to gag and moan and whine about how completely wretched it was that she had ever thought him to be "cute."

It took Lydia a minute to realize that she'd taken to staring at him and she had lost track of how long she'd been admiring his peaceful expression as he slept. It wasn't until he shifted and snuggled his face into the pillow, causing a lock of his dirty, blonde hair to fall into his face that she snapped out of it. Instinctively, her hand had gone to push the piece of hair from his face, not wanting it to obstruct her view. Her hand had froze before it had reached his face.

What _exactly_ was she doing? Why had she been staring at him with such warm adoration? And why had she not woken him up and alerted him to the awkward situation yet?

" _Because you like this_ ," he mind answered for her. " _It feels nice, admit it._ "

Lydia's eyes widened at that thought and her panic from before quickly returned.

" _This is BEETLEJUICE_!" her brain countered back to it's own thought. This wasn't some casual boyfriend or some crush of hers. This was her _best friend_. Her much older, much deader, much less hygienic best friend. To be cuddled so close together in, what she considered, an _intimate_ embrace, was completely inappropriate and definitely crossing a line

...wasn't it?

She didn't have _those_ feelings for him.

...did she?

" _No. I_ _ **don't**_ _! That would be completely ridiculous. Shut up_!" she mentally snapped at her own brain. With that thought, she gently withdrew her arm and gently tapped his shoulder. "Beej, hey B.J.," she spoke, leaning closer to his face so he could hear her over the alarm.

He groaned something inaudible that Lydia took as sleepy gibberish but he did not wake up. She began shaking his shoulder and gave a little frustrated sigh.

This wasn't looking good and the longer the embrace continued the more she panicked because a huge part of her brain was nagging her to just give it up for now and enjoy it.

"BEETLEJUICE!" she yelled, her face still close to his. "GET UP! NOW!"

He groaned groggily and Lydia felt a sigh of relief escape her. "Uh...Beej? _Please_ open your eyes," she pleaded, still feeling the blush heavily on her own cheeks.

"Mmmrmmff?" Beetlejuice muttered huskily, still waking up. "Oh, hey babes," he said calmly, halfway opening one eye then closing it again.

" _BEETLEJUICE_!" she cried again, shaking him and being mindful to not say his name a third time.

"Whaaaat?" he groaned, now clearly a little annoyed as he opened both eyes despite how sleepy he still felt.

"Well, it's just that...uh..."Lydia began nervously and glanced down to where his arms were, obviously indicating with her eyes were and what the problem was, too shy to directly say it out loud.

Half of her was embarrassed and another half just didn't want to be the first to pull away. Not that she would have ever admit that second part out loud.

"Lyds, out with it. Ya know I'm dumber than a stack of rocks in the morn-" his eyes opened wide, a look of mixed shock and immediate embarrassment graced his face.

He got it.

It wasn't until he had really opened his eyes fully that he realized immediately why she was so urgently waking him. Not only were his arms embracing her in a way that was way, way beyond friendly but his face was ridiculously close to her own as he had her pulled in close to his own body.

Which brought about the second _major_ issue. His mind being still very much that of a grown male with certain urges and needs, it took almost no time to notice the sensation of Lydia's body pressed painfully close into his own. _So_ close, in fact, that he could _feel_ her soft chest pressed against his own. His mind immediately wandered to places that he knew it should not be and as nature would it have it, thinking _those_ kinds of thoughts, it wouldn't be long before something would manifest itself in his-

"YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHH!" he panicked and immediately released her from his arms and scooted about ten spaces back on the bed, his arms flailing in panic. It was a little too far because he hovered in thin air for a moment then hit the floor hard with a loud "oof", landing on his sleeping bag that awoke promptly and tossed him off into the wall with an annoyed growl.

Lydia hopped out of bed and slammed her hand, palm down, onto the alarm clock to shut it up and ran over to her friend. Her first instinct was to kneel down by him but the blush that remained on her face and the residual awkwardness of the morning situation had her stand beside him, glancing down with concern, nervously keeping her distance. "A-are you okay Beej?"

"ME?! O-oh yeah," he said, waving his hand to dismiss her concerns but he still lay half smashed against her wall. "I'm fine, n-never better," he answered weakly, lacking the convincing tone that he had hoped for.

He slowly stood and straightened himself out, attempting to hide the nervous-as-all-hell look. His thoughts were all a jumble and he knew that it showed upon his face and worse...he was blushing. For the most part, blushing for him was rare because it was a more of a manifestation of his powers reflecting his thoughts and emotional state. It was more of an illusion than an actual bodily reaction but an annoying illusion none the less that was presently threatening to give away his nervous state of being away. It rarely happened because rarely did anything fluster him to the point that the earlier situation with Lydia had done. He coughed, trying to find his voice and he waved a hand nonchalantly, gesturing as he spoke, "I guess...I was dreamin' pretty hardcore. Sorry about that Lyds," and it struck him just how wound up he really must have been to effortlessly offer an apology to her without throwing a stink fit of any sort about it.

"I-it's okay Beej!" Lydia laughed nervously, waving her hands as if to shoo off the tension between them. "Not a big deal...really!" she lied and felt her cheeks burn even more from lying. She _hated_ lying but presently she didn't feel like being open and honest was much of an option at the moment given the awkwardness.

" _Open and honest? What would you be honest about anyway? That it felt_ _ **nice**_ _? That you_ _ **liked**_ _it? Like he'd ever let you live that one down_ ," her brain said sarcastically and she was inclined to agree. She'd never hear the end of it if she had confessed _that_ and she had a feeling that today was going to be a very long day.

"Y-yeah! That's right! I was..." he trailed off, his brain scrambling to find an excuse, _any_ excuse. "I was dreamin' about havin' big ol' stacks of cash! Just _hills_ of it right in my arms," he said and embraced himself in a big, squeezy hug. "Guess I just got a little too grab happy outside of my dream," he chuckled nervously and awaited her reaction, hoping that excuse got him off the hook.

Lydia felt something inside of her wilt upon hearing his explanation but she couldn't place exactly why she suddenly felt a little bit of disappointment.

" _Money, of course. Go figure,_ " she thought sourly but didn't have long to dwell on that thought and why she suddenly felt disappointed.

"So, we'd better pop on over to the Neitherworld, dontcha think Lyds? After all, we got ourselves a boat to catch!" he said with a wide, hungry grin, getting dollar signs in his eyes. Lydia just sighed, the bad feeling from the previous day oozing it's way back into her system. She had almost forgotten about their plans to investigate the mystery letter. Almost.

She still didn't have a good feeling about it but Beetlejuice was notorious for getting himself in over his head in situations and the fact that she had such a bad feeling about the whole thing seemed like even more of a reason for her to accompany him – to keep him out of trouble (if even possible).

"Earth to Lyds!" Beetlejuice shouted, turning into a large version of the planet Earth, bringing Lydia out of her thoughts.

"Sorry, sorry!" Lydia apologized but hesitated. She gave one last glance to her ghostly friend and winced slightly. She already knew the answer but she had to ask anyway.

"Beej? Is there really no way that I can change your mind about this...?" she asked tentatively.

"C'mon Lyds, quit yer worryin', would ya?" Beetlejuice said and shot her a confident smile. "We're just goin' to go and check it out, remember? Besides, if anything goes wrong, I'll be there!" he boasted and Lydia suppressed a mighty groan. " _That's what I'm worried about_ ," she thought and sighed in resignation.

"It's still just _sooooo_ cute how you worry about me Lyds," Beetlejuice said a moment later, behind her now, his face floating slightly above over shoulder, cheek pressed against hers, grinning widely.

"Oh, shut it bug breath," Lydia said playfully with a sideways glance towards his face and a little smile and with that, she said the three words that would return them to the Neitherworld.

 **Author's Note:**

I hope anyone reading caught the fun little Winona Ryder reference in there ; ] Also, just in case anyone is curious, this is what I envisioned the steam boat to look like, minus the color scheme and tainted windows of course. It will help paint a better mental picture for you (hopefully)

Also, I did art for this chapter and I wanted to share! It's not the best seeing as how I have the experience of a rock trying to jump rope in terms of painting/coloring on the computer but I hope you enjoy it all the same and I hope it helps make the story a wee bit more vivid : ]

littleladyaquamarine. Deviantart.

Com (slash)Art(slash) Beetlejuice-and-Lydia-Sleepover-Dark-Version-565121888 (no spacing of course)


	6. Chapter 6 - The Five Stones of Virtue

**Author's note:**

Hello! Well, turns out I kinda accidentally fibbed last chapter. I said that this chapter would be shorter. But I began writing and it just didn't end up that way. I really was anxious to get into the plot/conflict so I just kept writing (oopsies!). So, it's a bit lengthy. In any case, I hope everyone reading enjoys it!

Special shout-out/thank you again to pyrofoxforever for being a loyal reader. Your reviews are always a treat to read! Thank you so much :) Also big thank you to Fluffyface (I love your pen name!) for your kind review as well.

Also, as always, thank you to those continuing to follow and read this story or those who are just reading it for the first time.

Disclaimer: I obviously own NOTHING. NOOOTHING. All characters are property of their respective owner(s) (namely Mr. Tim Burton)

 **The End of An Eternity**

Chapter Six – The Five Stones of Virtues

Once back in the Neitherworld, Beetlejuice pushed open the door that connected the two worlds and floated out beyond it then put two fingers in his mouth and whistled so loudly that it echoed into the horizon. "HEY DOOMSTER!" he yelled out and then there came a series of happy beeps followed by the sound of squealing tires.

Lydia watched as the green, speedy little car made it's way towards them and then braked suddenly, stopping almost exactly in front of them. It looked to Lydia with it's headlights and began honking happily, inching towards her, yearning for her to pet him. Lydia smiled and reached a hand out and patted Doomie affectionately on his hood. "How've you been Doomie?" she asked sweetly, leaning down slightly as she spoke.

The car gave off a soft purring sound as she pet it but then slowly it's purrs became irritated little beeps that went lower in tone and Doomie's headlight eyes narrowed in Beetlejuice's direction.

"Beetlejuice did _what!_?" Lydia asked and cast a knowing glance at the ghost beside her who already had his arms spread out innocently and was chuckling nervously.

"Hey! I never planned to _really_ sell ya Doomie! And besides, those saps agreed to buy a car. There was no agreement that the car would stay with them," Beetlejuice said matter-of-factly, beginning to snicker.

Fire burned in Lydia's eyes and she was on Beetlejuice in the blink of an eye. "You tried to _sell_ Doomie?!"

"Whoa! Whoa! HEY!" Beetlejuice countered, taken aback by her immediate reaction. "I had it under control the whole time Lyds! I swear! Straight cash, no contracts, only the morons who were dumb enough to fork over cold, hard cash-"

"That's not the point!" Lydia seethed.

"H-hey he's safe and sound ain't he? C'mon Lyds!" Beetlejuice tried again and put an arm around her, rubbing her shoulder and trying to reassure her. "Y'know I'd never really let anything happen to the ol' bucket of bolts."

Upon feeling his cold half-embrace, Lydia felt her anger ease slightly. She relented and sighed, still slightly irritated. "You do some really horrible things sometimes Beej, you know that, right?"

Beetlejuice grinned ear-to-ear as though she'd just given him the best compliment ever. "Aww, shucks Babes! You really think so?" Doomie and Lydia sighed dramatically in tandem and Lydia decided to let it go for the time being seeing as how Doomie was, in fact, safe and sound. She opened Doomie's door and hopped inside, sitting down and buckling her seatbelt. However, Beetlejuice being...Beetlejuice, he was never one to let a subject go when he should and instead resumed talking. "Besides, y'know Lyds, it's not exactly like Doomie was opposed to the idea. Heck, he went with them!" Doomie honked sharply and narrowed his eyes once more at Beetlejuice.

"We had better get going if we want to make it to the docks to catch that boat," she suggested, changing the subject deliberately. Beetlejuice gave a slight huff before floating over and sitting down in the driver's seat, leaning back with his arms crossed behind his head. Doomie gave a sharp lurch in reverse and made it so that Beetlejuice slipped down into the seat, his legs sticking up in the air. Lydia managed a little smile at that and Doomie began a series of short honks that sounded like laughs.

Beetlejuice slowly peeked his head up, a disgruntled look on his face. "Oh ha-ha Doomie," he said shortly and adjusted himself to his previous position, one hand now rested on Doomie's steering wheel to ensure that the car wouldn't be pulling anymore shenanigans. "Well, serves you right. I'm with Doomie on that one," Lydia said with a smile of pure satisfaction, her eyes closed so she didn't see Beetlejuice shoot her a disgruntled look.

They drove for a while and Lydia soon found herself staring out the side of the car, watching the scenery pass by as they drove, lost in her own thoughts. She couldn't explain it but the more they drove, the more her heart and mind screamed at her to turn back. Normally she was usually more than happy to accompany Beetlejuice on an adventure of sorts but ever since she had held the anonymous letter in her hands, something inside of her had not felt right. She closed her eyes and drew in a slow, breath in an effort to steady herself mentally.

Just then, an image flashed in her mind of a jewel of some sort glowing a bright purple in red finger-tipped hands that looked very, very familiar to her.

" _Is...this it_?"

" _Lydia_!"

Her eyes shot open and she immediately looked to Beetlejuice, eyes wide, feeling her heart skip a beat in cold terror. She wanted to tell him what she'd seen but felt her voice failed her completely.

"Uh," Beetlejuice glanced at her as he drove, "Ya look like you've just seen two sand worms matin' Babes. Everything okay?"

"I-" she began, rubbing her forehead and furrowing her brow as if she had just awoken from a dream and was struggling to recall it. And just like that, the image and the memory of it had vanished from her mind completely.

"Lyds...?" Beetlejuice asked again, giving her an odd look that seemed to be a mix of concern and puzzlement when she didn't respond after a minute.

"I-it's nothing I guess. I just...had some sort of vision but I can't...remember what it was," she confessed and brought her eyes to her friend's. He then patted her back and gave her one of his goofy grins that normally never failed to cheer her up.

"You're a little young to be havin' memory lapse, aintcha Babes?" he teased. "Don't go losin' your mind on me," and with those words, his head flung open and his brain tried to jump out as he made wild grabs at it. "Hey! Whoa! Get back in there you!"

"Mmm," was all Lydia responded with, seeming to be lost in her own thoughts once more, no longer paying attention to Beetlejuice. He tried to not be overly obvious with his concern but it wasn't often that he saw Lydia so troubled. On the other hand, it _was_ completely in her nature to give her entire focus to whatever she became absorbed in to the point where she would tune everything else in the world out. He had often seen it various times when he had watched her study or read or even when she'd sew or sketch He knew this because many times he'd delight in trying to distract her only to fail and become disgruntled or overly bored.

"Whatever it was, I'm sure it'll come back to ya. I wouldn't worry about it too much," he suggested once more and waved at the air with his hand. "You know-" and before Beetlejuice could finish, Doomie slammed on his brakes and honked happily to signal that they had arrived at their destination. The sudden stop had sent Beetlejuice face first into the car's dashboard, smashing his face completely flat.

"We're here," Lydia said ominously, glancing towards the docks as she forced her dry mouth to swallow nervously. Beetlejuice peeled his face from the dash and looked to where Lydia was staring, his face flat as a pancake.

Sure enough, waiting for the pair was a grand steam boat that was painted black and had gold trimming running along it's hull and curled around it's steam stacks. It's stern wheel was a alternating pattern of gold and black and was currently stationary as the boat was at a stand-still, docked, clearly awaiting it's passengers. All-in-all, it looked very elegant in Lydia's opinion.

She glanced to Beetlejuice who was shaking his head in an effort to regain his normal facial structure. When his face finally cooperated and was back to normal he then looked to the boat and his eyes seemed to glow and glitter. He was all grins. "Swanky, eh Lyds?" he said and elbowed her enthusiastically but Lydia wasn't sharing in his eager excitement. Wordlessly, she opened Doomie's door and stepped out as Beetlejuice followed suit. As if sensing her mood, Doomie softly honked and nudged her from behind gently, fixing her with a look of worry of concern. She turned and offered the car a sympathetic smile.

" _Doomie gets it, why can't he_...?" a thought abruptly interjected in her brain. She placed a hand on the car's hood and patted it lovingly, bending her legs slightly to be at Doomie's eye level. "Thanks Doomie," she spoke softly, speaking low enough so that only he could hear. "I'll be okay. I'm just worried about Beetlejuice but someone has to keep an eye on him, right? You know as well as I do that Beej attracts trouble about as easily as he attracts flies," Doomie honked in agreement and both of them cast a knowing glance in Beetlejuice's direction. Beetlejuice, for his part, was too busy glancing over the elegant steam boat and rubbing his hands together in anticipation, thinking only of his impending pay out, to take notice of either Lydia or Doomie giving him worried looks.

Lydia then snapped her fingers as an idea struck her. Swiftly, she leaned over the seats and with a quick flick of her finger, Doomie's glove compartment fell open. Inside was various items, most of which, she had not placed in there herself. She counted about five dead beetles, a glob of something that she wasn't even certain what it was exactly, a few scattered cards that read, "B.J.'s Driving School", a screwdriver and a few various papers. She rifled through the papers, quickly glancing them until she found a blank one that she was satisfied with. She grabbed a pen from the glove compartment and began scrawling so quickly that her hand hurt. She then finished and re-capped the pen, shoving both it and the note into the glove compartment, speaking just slightly above a whisper so that Doomie could hear.

"If we aren't back after shortly after sun down, go get help Doomie. I just got a really bad feeling about this and we may be needing help if I'm right," she explained hurriedly and Doomie gave a quiet, short, little beep to acknowledge that he'd heard her.

As she shoved the note into the glove compartment, a loose piece of paper slipped out of the glove compartment and landed gently upon the floor of the car. She made a quick swipe at the rogue piece of paper, aiming to quickly shove it back into its place but when she grabbed it, she froze momentarily.

The paper was not actually paper. It was a photograph that was slightly worn and had slight crease marks from wear and tear but the person in the photo was still very much visible.

It was her.

More specifically, it was an older photo that had been taken about a year ago by Jacques when she had been present at the road house to watch a shooting star shower with Beetlejuice, Ginger, the Monster and Monstress and Jacques. She remembered it well because Beetlejuice had boasted about how he would "easily" acquire a fallen star for her only to have somehow wound up causing all the stars in the night sky to go on strike along with the moon. This had left the Neitherworld in complete darkness which had led to a big adventure in and of itself to fix the Neitherworld night sky.

In the photo, she was sitting on the ground between Beetlejuice and Ginger, legs crossed with an elbow propped up on her right knee as her hand cupped her jaw and cheek and she gazed upwards to the night sky with a look of wonder and contentment upon her face. Beetlejuice was leaning against the side of the roadhouse, making a face for the camera with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Ginger was looking to her, apparently too busy chatting away excitedly to have noticed Jacques snapping the photo. The photo itself wasn't what had caught her attention and had caused her to stare. It was the fact that it had been folded just so on the sides so that Ginger and Beetlejuice himself were hidden behind the photo and only she herself could be seen as the photo's central focus.

" _Did...Beetlejuice...do that_?" she wondered to herself, staring down at the folded picture and at the same moment that she wondered that very question, something inside of her chest felt warm and pleasant and it felt as though her heart was beating with about five times more force than it had moments ago. It touched her and also pleased her on some level to know that he kept her picture so near to him wherever he travelled. Judging by the wear and tear on the photo, she gathered that it had been pulled out and shoved back into it's hiding place frequently.

"Lyds! What're ya doin'?!" Beetlejuice's familiar voice cut through the moment and startled her and she hurriedly shoved the re-folded photo back into place between the loose papers and slammed the glove compartment closed with incredible speed and spun, turned and straightened up, fixing a wide, toothy grin on her face. "Nothing!"

Beetlejuice's eyes were wide and he looked at her with obvious concern and even a little bit of shock.

"W-what?"

"You feelin' all right? You're all flushed Babes!" he observed and made a show to turn into a flushing toilet. Lydia waved it off with her hand and laughed nervously, lightly shaking her head, trying to fix him with her best nonchalant look as she touched her own cheek. "Me...? I think it's just the sun," she fibbed through her teeth (literally, since she still had the false, toothy grin plastered on her face).

"We'd better head on over, don't you think?" she asked, desperate to change the subject. In truth, she wanted to head anywhere _except_ in the direction of the awaiting steam boat but she knew that her suggestion was likely the best way, at present, to take Beetlejuice's attention off her rosy cheeks. After how he had teased her about her worry for him, the last thing she felt like doing was telling him how him keeping her picture close had touched her.

" _I wouldn't hear the end of that for a month_ ," she thought and suppressed a strong urge to roll her eyes, the new thought causing her blush to fade from her cheeks just a bit. Somewhere deep down, she found that while she accepted B.J. for who he was, a small part of her wished that he wouldn't be _quite_ so immature about matters of the heart sometimes.

" _When did_ _ **that**_ _feeling show up_?" her mind questioned and she found herself feeling suddenly perplexed. When exactly _HAD_ she began longing to see that side of him and the even better question was...why? She had never known Beetlejuice to be anything other than vague and at times very immature when it came to anything even remotely touchy-feely. She could recall more than a dozen times when the pair had been approached with something having to do with love or emotions and Beetlejuice never once had hesitated to voice his distaste for all things, "sappy". She had never minded it much before. She usually just had shaken her head and smiled, usually enjoying in his overly dramatic displays of disgust towards anything love oriented.

So, why was she _now_ secretly hoping he'd embrace any aspect of emotional connection?

She then felt a cold sensation clamp itself around her hand and the feeling almost made her jump, distracting her from her present train of thought. And just like that, the blush raged back onto her cheeks like a flood washing across the ground. Beetlejuice had grabbed her hand and was now excitedly tugging her along at his side towards the steam boat. She glanced down very quickly at his hand as it clasped her own and felt her cheeks heat flare up ever more.

" _What is...WRONG with me_? _It's not like he's never held my hand before. This_ _ **isn't**_ _a big deal. Certainly nothing to go blush crazy over. This is Beej! Get a grip on yourself Lydia_!" the logical part of her brain screamed at her. The memory of being held by him earlier that morning, the photo of her in the glove compartment immediately sprung to mind as if to subconsciously argue the logical side and she felt her stomach twist slightly though she couldn't immediately figure out why and she didn't have long to dwell on it.

She now stood at the end of the nearest dock, the steam boat right in front of her and Beetlejuice, looming and seeming to stare them down menacingly, though Lydia knew that wasn't likely since it was just a boat, not a living being. Now that she was up close to it, she immediately noticed that while most steam boats she had seen in pictures featured an open deck on the lower and upper levels, this one did not. Instead, a fine, black glass paneled the deck and it made it impossible to see within the ship's interior. Decorative mauve curtains framed the glass on each section, each pulled back by a black satin tassel tie. For being on the ship's exterior, the curtains looked immaculate and well cleaned and maintained. Had she not had such a bad feeling about the whole thing, she normally would have probably jumped at the chance and eagerly boarded such a beautiful and mysterious vessel.

As if on cue, a voice in her head spoke suddenly, " _Turn back._ " She stiffened upon hearing it and unconsciously gripped Beetlejuice's hand tightly. She felt her blood turn to ice in her veins.

Beetlejuice glanced to her, about to speak before the double doors that lead to the entrance of the ship, slid open and out stepped a slender, tall and gaunt man. His skin was a grey color and his eyes were small and sunken into his head but they seemed to hold a sharp look about them. His nose was small but pointed and his eye brows were thick and set into a solemn line. He wore a decorative vest over a black satin, button up shirt and fine, grey dress slacks that were a shade darker than his skin. Lydia took notice of a bowtie around his neck and somehow guessed that this was the assistant that "I" had spoke of in the overly vague letter.

The tall man glanced between herself and Beetlejuice slowly but Lydia felt all the more unnerved when the realization dawned on her, after a moment, that he was mostly staring at her.

"Mr. Juice and Miss. Deetz, I presume?" he spoke in a voice that was monotone and sounded bored but his eyes seemed anything but as they seemed to be presently intent upon boring into Lydia's soul.

"In the flesh!" Beetlejuice said proudly then snorted and jerked a thumb in her direction. "Well, her anyway. I'm a whole other story," he joked and turned himself into a storybook but the tall man did not crack even in the slightest and his only response was to briefly stop eyeing Lydia long enough to give an un-amused look in Beetlejuice's direction along with a curt nod.

"Follow me onto the ship if you would please and once on board, I will explain in further detail about what my master is requesting of you," he explained shortly, his voice icy in tone. Beetlejuice all too eagerly began to board the ship, following the man but Lydia gripped his hand harshly and stopped him, glaring daggers at her friend.

Beetlejuice stopped in his tracks and looked back to her when she refused to budge and immediately winced at the look she was giving him, rubbing the back of his neck nervously with his other free hand.

" _Remember_ our deal Beej," she hissed quietly through gritted teeth and he blinked as if trying to recall the very deal she had begged him not to forget and Lydia fought the urge to turn around and drag him by his tie back towards Doomie. He then gave her a sheepish grin and chuckled nervously. "R-right Lyds. I just thought that we would ask questions once we boarded the ship, ya know? A little boat ride never hurt no one," he suggested, raising his eyebrows so they were fixed into an apologetic expression. Lydia remained unconvinced. "Uh...huh," she said through narrowed eyes and then made a move to step in front of Beetlejuice.

"We won't be going anywhere until we get some answers," she spoke in defiance, blocking Beetlejuice's path and turning to fix the tall man with the stern glare that she had previously given her best friend. Beetlejuice, stood behind her, tapping his finger tips nervously together and smiling apologetically at the tall man.

The tall man turned slowly, an eyebrow raised at Lydia's sudden objection. There was a moment of silence before Beetlejuice felt the need to speak up. "NOT THAT we aren't extremely grateful and willing AND happy for the opportunity to partake in such a financially generous endeavor! It's just that, well, ya see, my friend here is just a little worried is all and well," he gave a soft little half snort, half chuckle and put a hand upon Lydia's shoulder patronizingly. "It would really ease her nerves if ya just laid it out for her but me? There ain't nothin', NOTHIN' that I can't handle, nothin' at all," he prattled on, making a gesture of cutting the air with his hand before Lydia softly kicked his shin to get her point across and fixed him with a look that told him to stop talking. "Beetlejuice? Zip it please," she said simply though he knew her well enough to detect the tone of zero kidding in her voice and he chuckled nervously and then literally made a show to zip his mouth shut.

"I completely understand and respect your reservations Miss. Deetz, however, time _is_ of the essence I fear. What I _can_ tell you off-hand is this," the man began and stepped closer to her, his eyes still intently upon her. His tone was some what apologetic but the look on his face had not changed from it's previous state and it was not helping Lydia feel convinced or anymore at ease.

"I work for a man named Impa. He is a Neitherworld scholar though not well known or notorious for his own reasons. For many a millennium, he has been conducting vital research that pertains to the border between both worlds and the magic barriers that separate the realm of the living from the realm of the dead," he explained, making it sound exceedingly simple though Lydia suspected that it was anything but.

"During his research, he came across ancient texts that, once deciphered, predicted a great cataclysm that will befall both worlds and that time is just about nigh."

"And no one else is aware of this?" Lydia asked, her eyebrows locked upwards in suspicion.

"Very, _very_ few. I'm certain that I don't have to explain in great depths both the wide scale panic that may ensue and also those who may appear to take advantage of such an event if this information was to be made public."

"And where do we come in?" Lydia pressed, still unconvinced and somehow feeling even less sure than she had before despite the explanation.

"I can explain that in detail once you are both safely on board but as I explained, we are, unfortunately, on a time schedule. I also do not wish to divulge such sensitive information where there may be unwelcome ears listening. I assure you that no harm will come to you or your...friend Miss. Deetz," the man said and bowed his head as a gesture of sincerity but shot a look of displeasure in Beetlejuice's direction. Beetlejuice didn't catch it.

"Well, that's good enough for me! But uh...just so we're clear here Jeeves," Beetlejuice began and Lydia took note of the split second flash of irritation that crossed the tall man's face upon hearing Beetlejuice's nickname for him though she doubted that Beetlejuice saw it or even cared if he had. "I _don't_ work for free. Your owner's note mentioned a lil' somethin' about a nice lump sum," he hinted, flashing a sly, knowing smile and shoving the now wrinkled letter into the tall man's face.

The tall man simply pushed the note down from his face in a calm manner. His facial features were calm but Lydia could see anger flash in his eyes.

"Indeed. I believe the amount that Sir. Impa indicated was one hundred up front, which I believe you received a check for, and nine hundred upon completion of the task at hand."

Beetlejuice's began drooling like a dog and Lydia was only half surprised that she didn't see literal dollar signs in his eyes. Instead, Beetlejuice snapped his fingers and a pen appeared between them. "Just tell me where to sign!"

" **Beej**!" Lydia yelped and grabbed his arm and yanked him back. She gave the tall man a half apologetic look. "Would you please give us a minute?" she asked, not really waiting for a response.

"Whaaaaa?! C'mon Lyds! Ya said we'd get more info and we got more info! What more do ya need?!" Beetlejuice pleaded with her.

"I...don't know," she confessed, slumping her shoulders, knowing that she was already fighting a losing battle but she somehow felt that she had to try. "Beej, I can't explain this but I just have-"

He promptly transformed his face into her own and in her own voice mimicked her words that she had already said quite a few times. "A really, really bad feeling."

Lydia crossed her arms indignantly, none too pleased with him mocking her.

"That's right."

He then changed back to his old self and quickly drew her close to him, one arm around her shoulders as his hand rubbed her upper arm encouragingly as he had done before. "I hear ya Lyds, really I do, but not only is this a chance to make some serious cash for us-"

"For _you_ ," she interjected.

He continued, seemingly unphased, "But it's also for a good cause and you're all about good causes, right?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Lydia drew in a long, deep breath and just nodded. She hated to admit it but he had a point.

"This is bigger than us Lyds! Not ONLY will we come out of this a thousand smackeroos richer but we'll also be heroes to the entire Neitherworld! Imagine it," he said, waving a hand out in front of her face, as if painting a picture in the air.

"The FAME! The GLORY! The PRAISE!" he said, his voice rising significantly with each word and stars literally shining in his eyes. "They'll have our name in lights Babes!"

"None of which I need," Lydia said honestly. " _If_...what he said is true and we'd be helping not only the Neitherworld but also potentially saving the people in the living world too, then...that would be enough for me," she said truthfully.

"Well then there ya go! So come on! What do ya say?! Besides, what's the worst that could happen!?" he said, throwing his arms out to their sides in a wide shrugging gesture and stepping in front of her to face her and give her a wide, bright, green grin.

"You _really_ want me to answer that?" she teased, feeling a little smile tug at the corners of her mouth.

Beetlejuice chuckled and put his arm back around her shoulders and leaned his cheek against her head in a gesture of reassurance. "Don't worry Lyds. No matter what happens? Your ghost with the most will protect you."

The statement was simple enough but yet it was also ripe with a deeper meaning for Lydia. She felt the all too familiar feeling of her face heating up once more.

" _Not again_ ," she moaned internally.

Furthermore, she felt her heart hammer away inside of her chest as though it wanted to break through her ribcage. " _ **Your**_ _ghost with the most_ ," his words rang through her thoughts like a loud echo in a wide cavern.

So lost in thought, and his words, was Lydia that she barely registered the fact that she was now willingly walking aboard the ship with Beetlejuice, side by side, his arm still around her reassuringly, her argument and worry forgotten for the moment.

The inside of the steam boat was just as lavish as the outside, if not more so. Beetlejuice and Lydia glanced around, remaining closely knit together, side by side. Both wore expressions of awe as they glanced around the luxurious vessel. The floor was a luscious maroon color and the walls were black but were adorned with various fine artworks and mirrors that were encrusted with expensive jewels set into their frames. There seemed to be no shortage of elegantly crafted candelabras which were lit and burning, setting the room all a glow with dancing shadows of candlelight.

Beetlejuice looked left and right slyly then leaned towards his best friend, whispering so that only she could hear, "Lyds this guy must be _loaded_!"

"I would assume so..." she responded, trailing off and not looking to him as she was still being distracted by taking in the rich décor that surrounded them.

While taking a long gander at his surroundings, Beetlejuice couldn't help but mentally picture himself with a boat of this grandeur. Of course, his ideas about décor would differ slightly. Instead of jewel encrusted picture frames there'd be about ten jewel encrusted tanks of beetles if he had his way. His boat wouldn't be nearly as neat and tidy, hell no. Rich or not, there was something simple, sweet and savory to him about living in your own messes. After all why bother cleaning when it would just get dirty again? He never understood it.

"This way please," the tall man said and gestured to two onyx, wooden doors that were ornately carved and were currently wide open to them. Inside was a parlor room that was perfectly in line with the rest of the ship in terms of it's rich and plushy decorating. A large fire place crackled softly as if to greet them when they stepped inside. On the floor was a rug that was made of fibers so fine that it made Lydia imagine that she was walking on a cloud.

"Please, have a seat," the man gestured to two velvet lined, plushly padded chairs that were a dark cherrywood red with black cushioning. Lydia and Beetlejuice exchanged curious looks briefly then complied. Beetlejuice sat back, bringing one leg up so that his right boot rested on his left knee and he leisurely situated himself in the chair.

"Now, I will elaborate on the situation further as you requested," the man said directly, still standing, once again making more eye contact with Lydia than he was with Beetlejuice. Lydia shifted, feeling immediately nervous as soon as the man's gaze began to bore back into her but she attempted to hide it by straightening up in her chair.

"While conducting his research of Neitherworld lore and history, my master, has discovered a prophecy, as I had previously mentioned. It is a prophecy that mentions specifically certain...ancient artifacts," he eluded, his voice pausing for a moment. Lydia and Beetlejuice exchanged curious glances once more then continued to listen.

"These artifacts are in the shape of stones, five to be exact. Each stone contains a specific power of its own," it was at that moment that a literal light bulb appeared over Beetlejuice's head and Lydia put her face into her palm. "Subtle Beej," she muttered into her palm, shaking her head.

" _However_ ," the man began, now looking to Beetlejuice and catching his drift immediately, "The stones by themselves, individually, are essentially useless. They hold no monetary value except to the right person who is in the know of their existence...such as my master," he concluded, placing both hands together politely. The light bulb above Beetlejuice's head fizzled out and shattered and had the topic at hand not been so heavy, Lydia would have laughed at his expression. Beetlejuice currently had the pouty, aggravated expression of a child who had been denied dessert.

"As it stands, my master has...heard...of your reputation Mr. Juice," the man began once more, now fully eyeing Beetlejuice but Lydia took note that it wasn't exactly a pleasant look.

"Well, I should think so," Beetlejuice said proudly, tilting his chin up slightly in a cocky fashion. "They don't call me-"

The man held up a single hand and stopped him before he could continue, looking mildly irritated. "The ghost with the most. Yes, we've heard that title...among others," the man uttered the last part under his breath but quickly continued. "That is precisely why my master felt that you would be best suited for this task. He thought it best that a spirit with your powers and cunning be involved in the matter of retrieving these stones," the man said with a smile that Lydia could tell wasn't entirely sincere. She narrowed her eyes, not yet convinced.

"Flattery will get you no-" she began to say but Beetlejuice was quick to cut her off.

"EVERYWHERE!" he said excitedly, positively beaming with pride and leaned forward, both feet now on the floor, placing his palms down upon his knees as he then leered at the man. "Of course, if ya want my services, then ya gotta know that they don't come cheap," he said, grinning like a cheshire cat. The man nodded and waved a hand in the air lazily. "I assure you Mr. Juice that money is _not_ an issue. You will be very, _very_ well compensated for your efforts in retrieving the stones. You need not worry about that."

Lydia glared at her friend and then back to the man. "Wait a minute! You may have B.J. on board here but I'm not convinced," she said bluntly, crossing her arms and not letting her stern glare waver off the man.

"By all means Miss. Deetz, ask anything you wish," the man encouraged her.

"Your master, Impa, why isn't he here to tell us this himself? If this is so important then wouldn't he want to personally oversee things?"

"My master fully intends to meet the both of you upon your retrieval of the first stone. In the mean time, he had some preparations to make and he sends his sincerest apologies for not being able to be here and address your concerns in person," the man explained formally.

"Okay then what does he plan to do with these stones once he has them? The way you speak of these stones, it sounds like an awful lot of power to be in one person's hands."

"Indeed and I apologize for not elaborating more before. The prophecy that was uncovered in ancient texts states that a being, perhaps a person, of pure maliciousness and power will find the stones and use them in a bid to gain hold over both worlds. This being will cause a calamity of monumental proportions. More than that, that being will have the power to merge the two worlds together with these stones. There's something else needed to wield the power of these stones but, admittedly, my master is still deciphering that part of the texts. I assure you that my master wants nothing more than to protect these stones with his life and the stones would be amongst trusted scholars and would be quite safe. You _must_ understand that he's dedicated his life's work to learning everything that he could about the history of the Neitherworld and that includes learning how to protect it and maintain balance between both worlds," the man said, bowing his head and Lydia detected, for the first time, a genuine tone when the man spoke of his master.

"See Lyds? I told ya. This is right up your alley. Good deeds and all. We'll be heroes!" Beetlejuice said, trying to cajole her. "Think of all the-" he hesitated and grimaced. "Think of all the... _good_...you'll be doin' folks," he then dry heaved upon having to say the "G" word.

"Indeed Miss. Deetz, without you and Mr. Juice's help, the worlds themselves could suffer greatly if the prophecy proves true," the man admitted grimly. Lydia felt her throat go dry once more. This was _huge_ and while she knew that Beetlejuice was simply seeing the profitable side of it, she saw a lot more that was at stake.

"It will be dangerous, won't it...?"

"Huh?" Beetlejuice glanced to her, caught off guard by her question. The man again connected his gaze with her own and this time his face held a gravely serious look about it.

"I will not attempt to trick or deceive either of you. Retrieving these stones will indeed be dangerous and it will not be easy. It's why my master insisted upon Mr. Juice. Aside from his...questionable...reputation, he is aware of Mr. Juice's powers and abilities and feels that they may be the key to obtaining these stones. What I'm specifically saying is-"

"He may be the only one who can do it," Lydia finished the man's words and both she and the man turned to look at Beetlejuice who glanced between them both then grinned widely, this having no doubt stroked his already large ego.

"Yep! You both just leave it to me. Like I said, there ain't nothin' I can't handle. I'm tellin' ya! I will be in and out with that stone before either of you can bat an eye," Beetlejuice boasted without shame, his eyes turning into two flapping bats briefly before he snatched them out of thin air and popped them back into their sockets.

"I'm going with you," Lydia said simply and curtly.

"But Babes-!" Beetlejuice began but Lydia silenced him with a look that was beyond serious. "This isn't a game Beej. You're going to need all the help you can get. Don't argue with me. I'm coming and that's that," she said sternly and Beetlejuice knew that once Lydia had made up her mind that very little would change it.

She then turned her attention back to the man and got right to business. "How do we go about getting these stones?"

"That's the tricky part, we...aren't precisely sure to be honest. From what my master deciphered about the texts, you need to pass through a specific gate which we've managed to find the location of. We're headed there as we speak. This gate only opens every so often and that is precisely why I said that time is of the essence. However, I apologize sincerely but once you both are inside the gate, we have very little information to go off of. I unfortunately cannot tell you exactly _what_ you will face once inside but all my master could figure was that it was a trial of some sorts. Given that the stones are formally called the Five Stones of Virtue, one could assume that whatever trial you both face will have to do with performing a certain virtue."

"That is awfully...vague..." Lydia trailed off with tremendous unease.

"That is just...AWFUL," Beetlejuice added. "You didn't say anythin' about _virtues._ I mean, I'm already goin' out on a limb here!" he then transformed so that he was being held up by a disembodied arm. "I'm already doing...something...something _good_!" he said with a dramatic shudder.

"Indeed," the man looked back to Lydia, clearly perplexed. "This is an...issue?"

"For him it is," Lydia scoffed and nodded in Beetlejuice's direction. "Don't worry, it isn't a problem," Lydia assured the man who now looked completely lost but just shook his head in resignation that he just wouldn't understand what Beetlejuice was going on about.

Lydia was about to ask another question but was interrupted as the boat gave a shrill blow from it's whistle, signaling that they were approaching their destination. The man then gave them both a very serious look as he spoke grimly, announcing, "We're here."


	7. Chapter 7 - The First Stone - Part One

**Author's note:**

Not a lot to say here! I forgot to wish everyone a Happy Holidays and Happy New Year but there ya go! Hope the new year treats you all well :)

Thank you to the guest review! It really makes me happy to read these reviews and know that readers are enjoying this story. I'm enjoying writing it though if I'm to be honest, this chapter was a bit harder to write because while I knew _what_ I wanted to happen, I just didn't know how to put it into words. Hopefully it all reads well!

As always, thank you so, so much to anyone reading/following this story!

Disclaimer: I obviously own NOTHING. NOOOTHING. All characters are property of their respective owner(s) (namely Mr. Tim Burton)

 **The End of An Eternity**

Chapter Seven - The First Stone – Part One

Lydia and Beetlejuice stared upwards at the huge cliff before them that rose out of the soft, purple hued sand. It rose high up into the sky like a massive titan. It stretched up and up and seemed to disappear among the clouds of the twilight sky. The rocks of the cliff were a dark, jet black and seemed to be made of some sort of mineral or gemstone because rather than having the dull look of normal rock, they seemed to shine and reflect whatever light hit them. Lydia and Beetlejuice presently stood at the base of the cliff. The tall, gaunt man stood besides them with a rolled up map clenched in his hand.

"It won't be long now," he spoke, and it got the attention of the ghost and the girl as they both turned their attention to him.

"Uh, what exactly are we waitin' for Jeeves?" Beetlejuice asked, leaning into the man. The man sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically. "For the gate, the one I told you about on the ship, to appear," he answered curtly.

"What gate? This is just a bunch of rocks," Beetlejuice countered and hopped back over to the cliff's side and knocked his knuckles against the solid rock wall.

"According to my master's directions, the mirror gate should appear here when the first light of the moon shines upon it," the man explained.

Lydia glanced back up towards the sky and her eyes took note that the Neitherworld sun was rapidly vanishing from sight. In the Neitherworld, time always moved at odd paces. Sometimes a day would stretch on forever and other times it flew by with ridiculous speed. This day was shaping up to be one of the latter.

For her part, Lydia was doing her best to continue to put on her bravest face and to fight the ball of anxiety and dread that had made it's home inside of her chest. She glanced to Beetlejuice to see what his expression was. He stood still and upright, arms crossed, foot tapping in an impatient gesture. He looked irritated and Lydia suspected that his already slim margin of patience was wearing ever thinner by the second.

"Beetlejuice," she said, using his full name so as to get his full attention. He looked to her, eyebrows raised at the sound of his full name.

"Yeah Lyds?"

"No matter what happens once we are inside, do _not_ leave my side. I don't think getting separated in there is a good idea since we don't know where we are going or what we are up against. If we get lost or separated, I'm not sure that finding each other again will be easy," she explained, hoping that her tone of voice conveyed the seriousness of the situation.

Beetlejuice just smirked assuredly. "You got it Babes! I'll be stuck on ya like glue!" he said and vanished and in a small poof of smoke then reappeared, stuck on her side, as a giant splotch of glue. He tried to pull himself off with a small series of grunts but eventually gave up, panting, then gave her a bright, green, toothy smile. "Y'see?!"

Despite the situation and her worry and anxiety, Lydia gave a little smile and shook her head in playful exasperation. "That's good because I got a feeling that this will be a...sticky...situation," Lydia joked in spite of herself and Beetlejuice snorted and chuckled and Lydia giggled quietly. "Good one Babes!"

It was then that a bright light drew their focus and interrupted their playful banter. Beetlejuice returned to his normal form and appeared close besides his friend. They both watched as the clouds seemed to open like a stage curtain to reveal the rising, yellow moon.

"It's time," the man announced and Lydia glanced back at him and saw an odd look on his face that seemed to be a mix of anticipation and something like fear. Her attention was quickly diverted back to the light shining off the reflective black rocks of the cliff as it began to grow brighter. Instinctively, Lydia raised a hand and shielded her face and eyes from the glare. Beetlejuice followed suit as the light grew brighter yet as the full light of the moon bore down on them and the cliff.

After a moment, the light seemed to subside and when Lydia and Beetlejuice opened their eyes, the area of the cliff that had been before them had changed to a smooth, oval-shaped surface. The stone was still the same shiny, black surface but now the duo could clearly see their reflections as though they were looking into a mirror. However, their mirror selves seemed to look devious and were anything but welcoming or familiar. Lydia softly gasped as her reflection beckoned to them both with a repeated curling of the finger that indicated, "Come closer"

Lydia diverted her gaze back to Beetlejuice, not bothering to hide her feelings of trepidation. To her surprise though, Beetlejuice looked nervous as well. His mouth was slightly ajar and the corners of his mouth were turned downwards into something of a nervous frown. His eyebrows were arched upwards in a worried fashion. He turned and faced Lydia and caught her looking at him and it caused him to quickly wipe the expression from his face, replacing it hastily with a false but convincing look of bravado.

"We got this, right Babes?" he said and laced his fingers and made a show of loudly cracking his knuckles then stepped in front of her, ready to proceed forward.

Lydia didn't answer but turned to look back for a final time at the tall man.

"There's absolutely _nothing_ else you can tell us that might help us once we're inside?" she asked fervently hoping for a good answer. However, for the first time since they'd met, the tall man looked genuinely apologetic as he spoke.

"I'm sorry," he responded honestly but grimly and bowed his head in respect to her. Lydia nodded weakly and looked back to the mirror in front of them, taking a deep breath.

Beetlejuice shook his head then glared in fierce determination at the mirror's reflection of themselves. "No ONE and NOTHING spooks this spook! Especially not when there's a fat paycheck waiting for me at the end," he said and grinned deviously. "Let's go Babes!" he said and trudged forward and to Lydia's shock, he walked straight through the mirror wall. As he did, their reflections wavered and disappeared as the wall seemed to ripple like the surface of water.

"Beetlejuice wait!" Lydia cried in desperation, her fear morphing into panic as she ran after him, a hand outstretched to grab him but it was too late. As she passed through the surface, she felt an odd sensation surround her body. She could only liken it to feeling like a full body static shock and then once the shock sensation subsided, it became very hard to move and suddenly she could see nothing but blurred vision. Her hand was still outstretched, desperately searching for her over zealous friend but touching nothing but dense air. She tried to run but it felt like she was under water and her movements seemed slow and sluggish. Lydia tried to fight her increasing panic and anxiety.

" _Beetlejuice..._ " her thoughts cried. " _I...I lost him..._ " she mourned and felt fear completely overtake her. What she had dreaded had become a harsh reality. She was alone in a very dangerous and very unknown place. A million questions raced through her mind as she struggled to get a grip and calm down and think rationally.

" _How will I get out of here?_ " her thoughts began racing wildly.

" _What if I get attacked by something? How will I fight back_?"

" _How will I find him again_?"

" _What if I_ _ **can't**_ _find him again_?"

" _What if he gets into serious trouble and I'm not there to help_?"

Then came the worst thought of all and it made her stomach lurch in a grossly uncomfortable way.

" _What if...I never see him again...?_ "

Lydia closed her eyes and gave up trying to run or move. She couldn't see where she was going anyway and trying to move was becoming exhausting. Everything just appeared to be a blur of colors and her limbs felt heavy as though each one weighed a ton. She fell to her knees, though from what she could make out, there was nothing that could be solidly distinguished as actual ground or flooring. She fought off tears that were rapidly springing up in her eyes. She felt frustrated. " _Why didn't he listen to me?! He never listens!_ "

" _I never even got a chance to tell him_ ," the thought intruded into her sorrow.

" _Tell him...what?_ " her own mind responded to her own thought and suddenly her heart began to hurt over the thought of never seeing her best friend ever again. Lydia squeezed her eyes shut and continued to fight her emotions and thoughts. Then all of a sudden...

Lydia shot upwards as Miss. Shannon's voice rang out harshly, calling her name. " **Lydia Deetz**!"

"Huh...?" she asked aloud, surprised by her suddenly surroundings. She was back in her world, in her class and sat at her desk, except that...it was her old desk in Miss. Shannon's school for girls. "I'm...in class?" she asked softly, speaking mostly to herself. How had she gotten here? Hadn't she just been-

" _Yes_ you're in class Miss. Deetz and in my class students do not sleep during my lessons," Miss. Shannon harshly scolded her, standing over Lydia and looking down at her with severe and intense disapproval.

"I-I'm sorry Miss. Shannon," was all Lydia could manage to say, feeling completely lost and confused. How had she gotten here? She had just been in the Neitherworld with Beetlejuice. She remembered passing through the mirror gate and then Beetlejuice had disappeared.

"Beetlejuice!" she whispered softly, suddenly feeling the familiar fear and panic return that she had felts moments before.

"What did you say Miss. Deetz?" Miss. Shannon demanded, losing patience for the young girl at a rapid pace.

"Beetlejuice!" Lydia said louder, saying his name for a second time with an increasing urgency. Her classmates giggled and many exchanged amused looks.

She had to know if he was okay and she had to know now. Lydia jumped to her feet, throwing her chair out behind and suddenly, without any further thought or worrying about asking permission, she ran out of the classroom into the hall and yelled, " **Beetlejuice**!" saying his name for a third time, completing the typical summoning.

Her heart felt as though it had frozen over as nothing happened.

No one appeared.

"Beetlejuice! **Beetlejuice**! _**Beetlejuice**_!" she tried again desperately to no avail. The door to the classroom slammed open and Miss. Shannon rushed into the hall. "LYDIA!"

Lydia felt herself become paralyzed in fear and realization as she realized that she could no longer summon her best friend, her eyes wide in terror and confusion. "W-why...?" she uttered, staring at the thin air of the hallway in front of her, some part of her still hoping he'd some how appear.

The door to the classroom remained ajar and behind it, her classmates had gotten up from their desks and were spying and snickering. Some were whispering excitedly amongst themselves. Miss Shannon grabbed Lydia firmly by her shoulder and spun her around so that they were face to face.

"I've had just about _enough_ of you daydreaming in class and your wild fantasies Miss. Deetz. This is the _last_ straw! Follow me to my office...now. We're going to have a little chat with your parents about this behavior of yours," she said sharply.

Behind Miss. Shannon, the door opened and a petite blonde girl with lightly tanned skin stepped forward, putting herself at the front of the class. Her arms were crossed and she wore a cruel smirk as she looked directly at Lydia with amusement and disdain. The look she gave Lydia was not unlike how a predator would eye it's prey.

"God Deetz, everyone already knows you are a freak but this is just, like, a whole new level of crazy and creepy, even for you," she quipped and the class behind giggled quietly in agreement. She nonchalantly tossed a lock of her golden hair behind her shoulder with the flip of her hand. "Like, no wonder you have zero friends!"

"Claire Brewster, will you please get back to your desk? You aren't helping," Miss. Shannon cut in. She then eyed the crowd of students that clumped together by the classroom door. "And that goes for the rest of you! Study pages ten through fifteen until I return and whoever is out of their desk when I return will face one hour detention after class!" she threatened and suddenly the students disappeared from the door way, hurrying back to their desks with lightning speed. Claire scoffed and rolled her eyes but complied, returning to the classroom and closing the door behind her.

Lydia felt her rage boil at both Claire's taunting and the inability to summon Beetlejuice. She was angry and scared. What had happened and how? If she was here, where had Beetlejuice wound up?

"As for you, young lady, follow me to my office immediately. I'm going to be calling your parents and when they arrive, they'll be hearing about your insubordination today," she said with no trace of warmth or comfort in her voice, her hand still firmly on Lydia's shoulder as she lead Lydia away towards her office. Lydia complied, not wanting to make the situation worse by resisting.

A short time later, Lydia sat facing Miss. Shannon who was standing besides her desk, still looking none too pleased. Her parents sat on both sides of her, Delia looking to Charles with a mixed expression of impatience and worry. Lydia noticed her fidgeting from time to time and knew Delia well enough by now to know that she generally loathed attending any parent-teacher related functions but did so without too much complaint as it was her duty as a guardian to Lydia. She had gotten much better about it in the last couple of years. Charles glanced back to his wife, trying to convey a look of comfort but it was tainted with worry. He then gave Lydia the exact same look. Lydia, for her part, glanced to them both briefly to survey their expressions then hung her head, trying to mentally prepare for the incoming lecture about her earlier actions that day.

"Mr. and Mrs. Deetz, I've called you here to discuss Lydia's continued ill behavior in class," she began and at that, Lydia's head whipped upwards to look at her teacher, her mouth open to protest but the look Miss. Shannon promptly shot her caused her to think better of it.

" _What does she mean 'continued behavior' ?_ " she mentally wondered. Sure, she had acted out today but normally, Lydia was very mindful to be on her best behavior and focus while in class. She usually enjoyed school and had even been praised in the past by Miss. Shannon herself as being a well rounded student. So where was this coming from all of a sudden?

"We...sensed that's why we were called," Charles answered honestly and gave his daughter another worried look. Lydia's brow furrowed in further confusion. "Dad...?" she said softly, completely baffled as to what was transpiring.

"Lydia's daydreaming and imaginative fantasies have gotten completely out of hand. Today, I caught her sleeping in class and when I went to reprimand her, she ran out of class and began yelling in the hallway about...Beetle...juice," Miss. Shannon explained, grimacing. "This is not the first time I've caught her being distracted or nodding off in class," she continued and Lydia's eyes widened.

"Wait a minute! I've never fallen asleep in class!" she argued and Miss Shannon raised her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes at Lydia. "Young lady, lying will only make things worse for you."

"But I'm _not_ lying!" Lydia insisted, feeling indignation and upset claw at her insides. She balled her hand into a fist and felt it begin to tremble.

Her father put a hand on her shoulder and his previous look of worry turned into a rather stern expression. "Lydia, just...stop it, please. Your teacher has no reason to lie to us about your behavior and given your problems in the past, I don't doubt what she's saying."

"What **problems**?!" she snapped at her father. Charles' expression hardened and he raised his voice slightly. "Don't take that tone with me Lydia. You _know_ what problems. We've talked about this before," he said, all traces of sympathy gone from his voice now. He then turned his focus back towards Miss. Shannon and spoke directly to her.

"Lydia has had a lot of trouble these past few years. The move here was very stressful on her and she's always had problems fitting in. New York was a very stressful time for her and I honestly thought that moving here might remedy that. I-we," he glanced apologetically to Delia. "We had hoped that she'd make a few friends here but it just hasn't seemed to happen unfortunately. About a little over a year ago she began making up these wild stories about ghosts. We really didn't think too much of it at first. You know, Delia and I just figured that it was some sort of...coping mechanism," he admitted and Delia chimed in. "And these stories, they were...creative," she added with an overly sweet smile. "We didn't want to hinder any creative streak in her. Me, personally, being a _professional_ artist, I _completely_ understood it and," it was at this point that Delia gave an awkward laugh, "Never block the creative flow I always say!"

Miss. Shannon did not share in Delia's humor and remained clearly aggravated. Lydia could not believe what she was hearing.

"What my wife means is, we thought it harmless at first. We hoped that perhaps maybe Lydia could channel it into something creative or healthy but lately it seems to be more of a...borderline obsession," Charles admitted, looking uncomfortable and even slightly embarrassed. "She keeps on about this...'Beetlejuice' character," he confessed, his hands outstretched in a helpless gesture.

"You _know_ who he is Dad! And I'm not making this up! How do you not remember him or the Maitlands?!" Lydia yelled, unable to believe what she was hearing. "He tried to marry me? He used Delia's sculptures to hold you and her hostage?" she persisted, trying to jog his memory.

"Lydia that's enough," Delia said curtly though she looked flustered and kept glancing to Charles for support.

"No! This is all wrong! I'm NOT making this all up! How do neither of you remember this?" she insisted, feeling her temper rise.

"Lydia **THAT'S ENOUGH**!" her father roared and Lydia promptly stopped arguing and stared at her father like a deer caught in headlights. It was rare that her father ever raised his voice to such a level. It was almost unheard of that he ever raised it to her and never had she seen him direct such rage at her. She sat stunned and finally, she was at a loss of words. Her father's words and anger had wounded her.

"We've had **enough**! Everyone has had enough! You _need_ to accept reality! Your mother and I will _not_ tolerate these delusions anymore. They've consumed your life Lydia! They're...they're ruining _our_ lives," he said, now still sounding angry but also sounding stressed and in that moment, Lydia felt a pang of guilt. Her father continued to talk but his voice seemed lost as Lydia tried to sort through her feelings and thoughts once again.

Lydia felt as though she were in an alternate reality. Her previous willingness to argue the accusations being hurled at her had ben abandoned and now she just felt hurt, guilty and utterly confused. She sat in silence and stared at the ground at her feet, still unable to believe what she was hearing or what was happening and how it had happened.

" _They're wrong_ ," her brain insisted. " _There's no way. NO WAY I imagined the past four years_ ," she thought but she began to tremble slightly. " _No way, I_ _ **couldn't**_ _have_ ," she kept trying to convince herself.

The room was silent for a moment and all eyes were on Lydia. Finally, Miss. Shannon was the one to break the silence.

"It is, with deepest regret, that I've decided to suspend Lydia until her behavior can be corrected," she said simply and without remorse. "I simply cannot tolerate this kind of behavior. It sets a bad example for the other students in the class. I do hope that you understand that I did not come to this choice easily. I gave her repeated chances to amend her behavior," she explained and looked to Lydia.

Lydia did not look up.

" _There's just no way,_ " her brain repeated but inside she felt a tremendous wave of panic and doubt begin to grip her heart. Had the last few years really just been a delusion of her sad mind? Before she had met the Maitlands and Beetlejuice, she had been massively lonely and depressed, that much had been all too true. Her life in New York _had_ been painfully lonely.

"We understand completely," Charles said grimly and stood up. "Lydia, c'mon, it's time to go," he commanded, his voice full of disappointment. Lydia heard Delia's chair scrape the floor of the office as she too stood up. Lydia sat, still in shock and it took her a moment to will her legs to work so that she could stand up as well. Miss. Shannon's eyes followed Lydia but she remained silent and poised.

Still wordless, Lydia followed her father and Delia out of the office. Was it even possible for a person to imagine four years of their life? Had she really just made up some story or day dream to escape her aching loneliness and depression? Her depression had been bad enough at one point that she had seriously considered ending her life. She recalled that thought with deep remorse and some small bit of shame, wincing at the memory.

Meeting the Maitlands and Beetlejuice had changed that though. They had changed...her. Just being around Beetlejuice had inspired a new-found confidence in her. He had often looked to her for help and for the solution to many problems and in doing so, it had made her feel more capable, more confident. It had made her feel both needed and important. How could all of that have been a mere daydream?

" _Could something not real really cause that much of a positive change in someone? In me?_ " she wondered as she exited the school with her parents and felt the warmth of the sun hit her skin.

Charles opened the backseat car door for her and Lydia climbed in without a word. He shut the door then proceeded to get in on the driver's side. Lydia began running through her memories of Beetlejuice and the Maitlands, looking for any kind of flaw, anything that would reveal that it was all just some elaborate hoax of her mind.

She remembered Barbara's warm smile and how it made her feel like she had when she was little and her real mother would smile at her.

She remembered Adam's enthusiasm over all things nerdy and how excited he'd get to show Lydia the newest addition to his town model.

She remembered how loved they had made her feel when she had needed it the most.

Most of all, she remembered Beetlejuice.

She remembered so much about him and suddenly various memories began to play in her mind's theater.

" _Shall we_?" he had held out an arm and despite her standing still, she had effortlessly glided towards him and her arm was then linked with his own, firmly. She remembered being horrified by him and completely put off by his demeanor and the smell of him.

" _Well I- Shucks Lydia, you're my best friend_ ," he had sheepishly but honestly admitted when they had needed to vanquish the skeletons in his closest. She remembered how it had made her smile and feel warm to hear him acknowledge her as his best friend.

" _Hey! They can't keep us apart_!" he had argued, holding up a finger as if to make some grand point while putting his opposite arm around her. She remembered the slight chill that she'd feel when he'd touch her.

Could a delusion really invoke all those feelings, emotional and physical, in her?

"Lydia, are you listening to me?" her father asked, clearly getting fighting his frustration. His voice snapped Lydia out of her trip down memory lane.

"I...I'm sorry," was all she could manage without lying or admitting that she had not been listening.

Charles heaved a sigh that was heavy with exasperation. "See? This is exactly what we were talking about Lydia! You deny it but you just did exactly what we were talking about! This...this...zoning out. You go off into your own little world! You just disappear!" and Lydia felt it dawn on her. She _had_ been lost in her memories to a point that she had almost forgotten where she was and what was happening. Her eyes widened and suddenly she felt her world cracking as she began to doubt everything.

"I-" she tried but her voice sounded so weak and small even to herself.

"Lydia don't be upset with us but Delia and I have decided that this is beyond what we can help you with. You need professional help Pumpkin. We contacted a doctor after we got the call from your teacher and all three of us are going to consult with him and we just want you to talk to him. He's going to help us decide the best course of action for you and I really would appreciate it if you'd just hear him out. We'll be there with you so you don't have to go through it alone," he explained, trying to stay calm as he spoke but Lydia could hear the stress in his voice. Her heart began hammering in her chest against her rib cage and she felt the tears from before start fresh in her eyes. It was real. The last four years had been nothing but a sick delusion of her pain wracked mind. Her best friend had never been real. She had always been alone. Utterly alone.

She tried to blink the tears back as she had before but this time her tears wouldn't have it and they fell from her eyes, warm and wet, onto her hands which her clenched into fists in her lap.

One tear landed on her ring and she stared at it for a long moment, almost unsure if it was really there. It was the same ring that Beetlejuice had used when he had attempted to marry her four years ago. It was _his_ ring.

She unclenched her fists slowly and her other hand gently touched the ring that was still snugly on her finger. If it was all a delusion then why did she still have his ring?

She slowly looked to her parents, looking between the two of them.

" _It was all real_ ," a voice spoke whispered in her mind. It was the same voice from before. The same voice that she had heard urging her to turn back from the ship. She began to remember everything. Beetlejuice, the ship, the tall man, the warning he had given them about a trial...

" _A trial_!" she thought and suddenly it made sense.

Lydia felt her sadness and doubt begin to dissipate and in it's place, it was replaced with anger and determination. " _It wasn't a delusion. None of it was_ ," she thought, now more convinced than ever and growing angry at whatever it was that had attempted to deceive her by using her loved ones against her.

She held up her hand that had the ring upon her finger. "Where did I get this ring?" she asked her father defiantly, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Her father glanced at her in the rearview mirror as he drove and gave a soft shrug of his shoulders. "It was," the moment of hesitation in his voice was brief but Lydia caught it immediately. "It was your grandmother's old ring. How do you not remember her giving it to you? She gave it to you a year before she passed Pumpkin," he explained. Lydia didn't buy any of it.

"No, she _didn't_ ," she said confidently. "Grandma never wore a ring like this. I never once saw her wear this ring. You're lying," Lydia seethed and lowered her hand back down into her lap.

"I won't tolerate that kind of talk Lydia," her father said, raising his voice once again.

"And I won't tolerate being called a liar!" she snapped in response. "You aren't my father!" she accused and jabbed a finger in his direction.

"Lydia have you gone mad!?" Delia finally spoke up, looking into the back seat directly at Lydia. Lydia turned her glare onto Delia. "No, I haven't _mother_. I am perfectly sane but even if I wasn't," she began, her heart now beating wildly in her chest with determination and confidence. "You will _never_ get me to believe that Beetlejuice and my memories and what I felt with him and the Maitlands," she began, her confidence growing with every word. "I'll never believe that any of that was just a delusion. I don't care what you say or what some doctor says. I don't even care if you have me put away! To me, they _are_ real. They always were and always will be. _He's_ real. I know what I felt and that was no delusion! I _will_ find Beetlejuice no matter how long it takes and even if I have to do it alone! I will never give up until I find my best friend," she seethed, practically yelling now and holding the hand that wore the ring against her chest, against her heart. Then to her sudden surprise, she felt a warmth surround her body, outside and in. Outside, her body seemed to glow a soft shade of purple, almost like an aura.

Her father slammed on the breaks and the car squealed to an immediate halt. Lydia watched as the sky darkened quickly and the sun vanished from sight. The outside of the car became replaced by complete darkness and Lydia could no longer make out the scenery.

Delia, who was still looking at her, opened her mouth and screeched an inhuman sound that made Lydia jump in surprise. Her face twisted and contorted in a look of pain and rage and Lydia scooted as far back as she could. Delia's skin then turned black and right before Lydia's eyes, it began to almost evaporate into a cloudy smoke-like vapor. Her eyes glowed a bright white and before long, everything had vanished around her and Lydia was suddenly suspended in pitch blackness. The thing that had once been Delia howled at her in unbridled fury.

It suddenly rushed at her and Lydia held up her arms in an effort to brace herself against it's attack.

She felt it hit her and somehow it felt like it had surrounded her and immediately she felt suffocated. She struggled to breathe, claw at the air in front of her desperately and after a moment of struggling it occurred to her. " _I'm going to die, whatever it is, it's going to kill me_ ," she thought in horror. " _I can't fight it_ ," her mind realized in a terror soaked revelation.

She continued to gasp for air but found none and gradually her vision began to swim in and out of darkness.

As she felt her lungs burn and ache and her eyes watered and her consciousness slipped further away, Lydia had one final, hazy thought.

" _I'm...so sorry...Beetlejuice..._ "

Then everything went black for Lydia Deetz and she fell motionless.

 **Author's Note:**

Cliffhanger! I'm awful, I know : ]

In truth though, I originally had planned to make this just one chapter but when I got to writing, I decided that doing so would have made it painfully long to read. So, I split it up into two parts. I promise that I will be posting part two soon. I just need to finish it up and spell check it/proof read it and all that good stuff. Thank you again for reading!

 **Update** : I also had to tweak this chapter a bit after it was released because I realized that when I re-read this, I didn't make it clear that in this scenario, Lydia was back to being 13/14 (hence being back at Miss. Shannon's school for girls). I had mentioned in an earlier chapter that she was in high school now. So, I apologize for not clarifying and for any confusion! It should be fixed now.


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